"Library      • 
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1'UTNCEfON.  N.  J. 

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No.  £ook,_        tij&. 


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AN 


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TO 


UNCONVERTED     8XXffXVES.S 


IN 


A  Serious  Ti*eatise  obi  Conversion. 


— 


BY    JOSEPH    ALLEINE. 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE 

AMERICAN    TRACT    SOCIETY, 

NO.  150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW-YORK. 


D.  Faushaw,  Printer. 


*n*  In  this  Edition  some  obsolete  words  and  phrases  are 
alt-ored,  and  a  few  passages  omitted —The  Author's  Six 
Questions  to  the  Unconverted,  and  Counsels  for  the  Cos 
verted,  are  added 


5S4. 

Page. 
INTRODUCTION. 

An  Earnest  Invitation  to  Sinners  to  turn  to  God,  in  or- 
der to  their  eternal  salvation, 5 

CHAPTER  I. 

Showing  what  Conversion  is  not,  and  correcting  some 
Mistakes  about  it, 7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Showing  positively  what  Conversion  is,         ...     14 

CHAPTER  III. 

Of  the  Necessity  of  Conversion,    ....  42 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Showing  the  Marks  of  the  Unconverted,       -  -     C3 

CHAPTER  V. 

Showing  the  Miseries  of  the  Unconverted,     -        -        -    78 
CHAPTER  VI. 

Containing  Directions  to  the  Unconverted,    -  -  104 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Containing  the  Motives  to  Conversion    ....  133 
Six  Questions  to  the  Unconverted,         ....  ]47 
Conclusion, 150 


Counsels  for  the  Converted,  -  159 


AN     EARNEST     IN  VITATION^  ¥0    SINNERS    TO    TURN 
TO    GOD. 

Dearly  beloved,  I  gladly  acknowledge  myself  a  debtor 
to  you  all,  and  am  concerned,  as  I  would  be  found  a 
good  steward  to  the  household  of  God,  to  give  to  every 
one  his  portion.  But  the  physician  is  most  solicitous 
for  those  patients  whose  case  is  most  doubtful  and  haz- 
ardous ;  and  the  father's  concern  is  especially  turned 
toward  his  dying  child.  So  unconverted  souls  among 
you  call  for  special  solicitude  and  earnest  effort  to  pluck 
them  as  brands  from  the  burning  ;  therefore  to  them  I 
shall  first  apply  myself  in  these  lines. 

But  whence  shall  I  fetch  my  argument?  Wherewith 
shall  I  win  them  ?  O  that  I  could  tell !  I  would  write 
to  them  in  tears,  I  would  weep  out  every  argument,  I 
would  empty  my  veins  for  ink,  I  would  petition  them 
on  my  knees.  O  how  thankful  should  I  be  if  they  would 
be  prevailed  with  to  repent  and  live  ! 

How  long  have  I  labored  for  you  !  How  often  would 
I  have  gathered  you  !  This  is  what  I  have  prayed  for 
and  studied  for  these  many  years,  that  I  might  bring  you 
to  God.  O  that  I  might  now  do  it !  Will  you  yet  be  en- 
treated ? 

But,  Lord,  how  insufficient  am  I  for  this  work?  Alas  ! 
wherewith  shall  I  pierce  the  scales  of  Leviathan,  or 
make  the  heart  to  feel  that  it  is  as  hard  as  adamant,  hard 
as  the  nether  mill-stone  ?  Shall  I  go  and  speak  to  the 
tenants  of  the  grave,  and  hope  the  dead  will  obey  me 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

and  come  forth  ?  Shall  I  make  an  oration  to  the  rocks, 
or  declaim  to  the  mountains,  and  think  to  move  them 
with  arguments  ?  Shall  I  give  the  blind  to  see  ?  From 
the  beginning  of  the  world  was  it  not  heard  that  a  man 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind ;  but  thou,  O  Lord,  canst 
pierce  the  heart  of  the  sinner ;  I  can  but  draw  the  bow 
at  a  venture,  but  do  thou  direct  the  arrow,  slay  the  sin, 
and  save  the  soul  of  the  sinner  that  casts  his  eyes  on 
these  pages. 

There  is  no  entering  into  heaven  but  by  the  strait 
passage  of  the  second  birth ;  "  without  holiness  you 
shall  never  see  God."  Now  set  yourselves  then  to  seek 
him.  Set  up  the  Lord  Jesus  in  your  hearts— kiss  the 
Son,  embrace  the  tenders  of  mercy,  touch  his  sceptre 
and  live ;  for  why  will  ye  die  ?  I  beg  not  for  myself, 
but  would  have  you  happy  :  this  is  the  prize  I  run  for. 
My  soul's  desire  and  prayer  for  you  is,  that  you  may 
be  saved. 

What  greater  joy  to  a  minister  than  to  hear  of  souls 
born  unto  Christ  by  his  instrumentality  ? 

I  beseech  you  suffer  plainness  and  freedom  with  you 
in  your  deepest  concern.  I  am  not  playing  the  orator  ; 
these  lines  are  upon  a  weighty  errand  indeed — to  con- 
vince, to  convert,  and  to  save  you.  If  I  would  quiet  a 
crying  infant,  I  might  sing  to  him  in  a  pleasing  mood, 
and  rock  him  asleep;  but  when  the  child  is  fallen  into 
the  fire,  the  parent  takes  another  course;  he  will  not 
try  to  still  him  with  a  song  or  a  trifle.  I  know,  if  we 
succeed  not  with  you,  you  are  lost ;  if  we  cannot  get 
your  consent  to  "  arise  and  come  away,"  you  perish 
for  ever:  no  conversion,  and  no  salvation:  we  must 
get  your  good  will,  or  leave  you  miserable. 

Some  of  you  do  not  know  what  I  mean  by  conver- 
sion, and  in  vain  shall  I  attempt  to  persuade  you  to  that 


Chap.  I.]  MISTAKES    ABOUT    CONVERSION.  7 

which  you  do  not  understand  ;  therefore  for  your  sakes 
I  will  show  what  this  conversion  is.  Others  cherish  se- 
cret hopes  of  mercy,  though  they  continue  as  they  are; 
and  for  them  I  must  show  the  necessity  of  conversion. 
Others  are  like  to  harden  themselves  with  a  vain  con- 
ceit that  they  are  converted  already ;  to  them  I  must  show 
the  marks  of  the  unconverted.  Others,  because  they  feel 
no  harm,  fear  none,  and  so  sleep  upon  the  top  of  the 
mast ;  to  them  I  shall  show  the  misery  of  the  uncon- 
verted. Others  sit  still,  because  they  see  not  their  way 
of  escape;  to  them  I  shall  show  the  means  of  conver- 
sion. And  finally,  for  the  quickening  of  all,  I  shall 
close  with  the  motives  to  conversion. 


CHAPTER   I. 


Showing  what  Conversion  is  not,  and  correcting  some  mistakes 
about  it. 

Let  the  blind  Samaritans  worship  they  know  not 
what,  John,  4  :  22.  Let  the  heathen  Athenians  inscribe 
their  altar  "  To  the  unknown  God."  Acts  17  :  22.  Let 
Papists  commend  ignorance  as  the  mother  of  devotion. 
They  that  know  man's  constitution,  and  the  nature  of 
the  reasonable  soul's  operation,  cannot  but  know  that 
the  understanding  has  such  empire  in  the  soul,  that  he 
who  will  go  rationally  to  work  must  labor  to  let  in 
light  there.  And  therefore,  that  you  may  not  mistake 
me,  I  shall  first  show  you  what  I  mean  by  conversion. 

Truly  the  devil  hath  made  many  counterfeits  of 
conversion,  and  cheats  one  with  this,  and  another  with 
that;  and  such  craft  and  artifice  he  hath  in  his  mystery 


8  MISTAKES    ABOUT    CONVERSION. 

of  deceits,  that  (if  it  were  possible)  he  would  deceive 
the  very  elect.  Now,  that  I  may  cure  the  ruinous  mis- 
take of  some  who  think  they  are  converted  when  they 
are  not,  I  shall  show  you  the  nature  of  conversion,  both 
what  it  is  not,  and  what  it  is. 

We  will  begin  with  the  negative. 

It  is  not  the  taking  upon  us  the  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity. Christianity  is  more  than  a  name.  If  we  will 
hear  Paul,  it  lies  not  in  word,  but  in  power,  1  Cor.  4 : 
20.  And  are  there  not  many  that  mention  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  yet  depart  not  from  iniquity  ? 
2  Tim.  2:19,  and  "profess  they  know  God,  but  in 
works  deny  him  ?"  Titus,  1 :  16.  And  will  God  re- 
ceive these  for  true  converts?  What!  converts  from 
sin,  when  yet  they  live  in  sin !  We  find  not  only  pro- 
fessors, but  preachers  of  Christ,  and  wonder-workers, 
rejected  because  evil-workers.    Matt.  7: 22,  23. 

It  is  not  putting  on  the  badge  of  Christ  in  baptism. 
Ananias,  and  Sapphira,  and  Simon  Magus  were  baptized 
as  well  as  the  rest.  How  fondly  do  many  mistake  here, 
deceiving  and  being  deceived!  dreaming  that  effectual 
grace  is  necessarily  tied  to  the  external  administration 
of  baptism,  (which,  what  is  it  but  to  revive  the  popisli 
tenet  of  the  sacraments  working  grace?)  and  thus,  that 
every  baptized  person  is  regenerated,  not  only  sacra- 
mentally,  but  really  and  properly !  Hence  men  fancy, 
that,  being  regenerated  already  when  baptized,  they 
need  no  farther  work. 

But  if  this  were  so,  then  all  that  have  been  baptized 
must  necessarily  be  saved,  because  the  promise  of  par- 
don and  salvation  is  made  to  conversion  and  regenera- 
tion.   Acts,  3:19.     Matt.  19:28. 

And  indeed,  were  conversion  and  baptism  the  same, 
then  men  would  do  well  to  carry  but  a  certificate  ol 


Chap.  I.J  MISTAKES    ABOUT   CONVERSION.  9 

their  baptism  when  they  died,  and  upon  sight  of  this 
there  were  no  doubt  of  their  admission  into  heaven. 

In  short,  if  there  be  no  more  necessary  to  conver- 
sion, or  regeneration,  than  to  be  baptized,  this  will  fly 
directly  in  the  face  of  that  scripture,  Matt.  7: 13,  14, 
as  well  as  multitudes  of  others.  For,  first,  we  shall 
then  no  more  say,  "Strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is 
the  way;"  for  if  all  that  were  baptized  are  saved,  the 
door  is  exceeding  wide,  and  we  shall  henceforth  say, 
"  Wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth 
unto  life."  For  if  this  be  true,  thousands  may  go  in 
abreast;  and  we  will  no  more  teach  that  the  righteous 
are  scarcely  saved,  or  that  there  is  need  of  such  a  stir 
in  taking  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  violence,  and  striv- 
ing to  enter  in.  Surely,  if  the  way  be  so  easy  as  ma- 
ny suppose,  that  there  is  little  more  necessary  than  to 
be  baptized  and  to  cry,  "  Lord,  have  mercy,"  we  need 
not  put  ourselves  to  such  seeking,  and  knocking,  and 
wrestling,  as  the  word  requires  in  order  to  salvation. 
Secondly,  if  this  be  true,  we  shall  no  more  say,  "few 
there  be  that  find  it;"  yea,  we  will  rather  say,  "few- 
there  be  that  miss  it."  We  shall  no  more  say,  that  of 
the  "many"  that  are  "called,  but  few  are  chosen," 
Matt.  22: 14,  and  that  even  of  the  professing  "Israel 
ut  a  remnant  shall  be  saved."  Rom.  9:27.  If  this 
doctrine  be  true,  we  shall  not  say  any  more  with  the 
disciples,  "  Who  then  shall  be  saved  ?"  but  rather, 
who  then  shall  not  be  saved  ?  Then,  if  a  man  be  bap- 
tized, though  he  be  a  fornicator,  or  arailer  or  covetous, 
or  a  drunkard,  yet  he  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 
1  Cor.  5:11,  and  6:9,  10. 

But  some  will  reply,  Such  as  these,  though  they  did 
receive  regenerating  grace  in  baptism,  are  since  fallen 
away,  and  must  be  renewed  again  or  else  they  cannot 
be  saved. 


10  MISTAKES   ABOUT   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  I. 

I  answer,  1,  That  there  is  an  infallible  connection 
between  regeneration  and  salvation,  as  we  have  already 
shown;  and  I  long  to  be  farther  evidencing,  but  that  it 
is  against  designed  brevity.  2.  Then  man  must  be 
born  again  a  second  time,  which  carries  a  great  deal  of 
absurdity  in  its  face:  and  why  may  not  men  be  twice 
born  in  nature  as  well  as  in  grace  ?  But,  3,  and  above 
all,  this  grants  however  the  thing  I  contend  for,  that 
whatever  men  do  or  pretend  to  receive  in  baptism,  if 
they  be  found  afterward  to  be  grossly  ignorant,  or 
profane,  or  formal,  without  the  power  of  godliness, 
they  "must  be  born  again,"  or  else  be  shut  out  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  So  then  they  must  have  more  to 
plead  for  themselves  than  their  baptismal  regeneration. 

Well,  in  this  you  see  all  are  agreed,  that,  be  it  more 
or  less  that  is  received  in  baptism,  if  men  are  evident- 
ly unsanctified,  they  must  be  renewed  again  by  a  tho- 
rough and  powerful  change,  or  else  they  cannot  escape 
the  damnation  of  hell.  Then  "be  not  deceived;  God 
is  not  mocked."  Whether  it  be  your  baptism,  or  what- 
ever else  you  pretend,  I  tell  you  from  the  living  God, 
that  if  any  of  you  be  a  prayerless  person,  or  unclean, 
or  malicious,  or  covetous,  or  riotous,  or  a  scoffer,  or  a 
lover  of  evil  company,  Prov.  13  :  20,  in  a  word,  if 
you  are  not  a  holy,  strict,  and  self-denying  Christian, 
you  cannot  be  saved. 

Paul,  while  unconverted,  touching  the  righteousness 
which  is  in  the  law,  was  blameless.  The  Pharisee 
could  say,  "I  am  no  extortioner,  adulterer,  unjust,"  &c. 
Thou  must  have  something  more  than  all  this  to  show, 
or  else,however  thou  mayest  justify  thyself,  God  will 
condemn  thee.  I  condemn  not  morality,  but  warn  thee 
not  to  rest  in  it:  piety  includes  morality, as  Christianity 
doth  humanity,  and  grace  reason  ;  but  we  must  not 
divide  the  tables. 


Chap.  I.J  MISTAKES   ABOUT   CONVERSION.  11 

It  is  also  manifest  that  men  may  have  a  form  of  god- 
liness,  without  the  power.  Men  may  pray  long,  and 
fast  often,  and  hear  gladly,  and  be  very  forward  in  the 
service  of  God,  though  costly  and  expensive,  and  yet 
be  strangers  to  conversion.  They  must  have  more  to 
plead  than  that  they  go  to  church,  give  alms,  and  make 
use  of  prayer,  to  prove  themselves  sound  converts. 
There  is  no  outward  service  but  a  hypocrite  may  do  if, 
even  to  the  "  giving  all  his  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and 
his  body  to  be  burned." 

Conversion  is  not  the  mere  chaining  up  of  corrup- 
tion by  education,  human  laws,  or  the  force  of  incum- 
bent affliction.  It  is  too  common  and  easy  to  mi  take 
education  for  grace  5  but  if  this  were  enough,  who  a 
better  man  than  Jehoash?  While  Jehoiada  his  uncle 
lived,  he  was  very  forward  in  God's  service,  and  calls 
upon  him  to  repair  the  house  of  the  Lord,  2  Kings,  12  : 
2,  7  ; — but  here  was  nothing  more  than  good  education 
all  this  while  ;  for  when  his  good  tutor  was  taken  out  of 
the  way,  he  appears  to  have  been  but  a  wolf  chained  up, 
and  falls  into  idolatry. 

In  short,  conversion  consists  not  in  illumination  or 
conviction,  in  a  superficial  change  or  partial  reforma- 
tion. An  apostate  may  be  an  enlightened  man,  and  a 
Felix  tremble  under  conviction,  and  a  Herod  do  many 
things.  It  is  one  thing  to  have  sin  alarmed  only  by 
convictions,  and  another  to  have  it  crucified  by  con 
verting  grace.  Many,  because  they  have  been  trou- 
bled in  conscience  for  their  sins,  think  well  of  their 
case,  miserably  mistaking  conviction  for  conversion. 
With  these  Cain  might  have  passed  for  a  convert,  who 
ran  up  and  down  the  world  like  a  man  distracted,  under 
the  rage  of  a  guilty  conscience.  Others  think,  that  be- 
cause they  have  given  over  their  riotous  courses,  and 


12  MISTAKES    ABOUT    CONVERSION.  [Chap.   I. 

are  broken  off  from  evil  company  or  some  particular 
lust,  and  are  reduced  to  sobriety  and  civility,  they  are 
now  no  other  than  real  converts  ;  forgetting  that  there 
is  a  vast  difference  between  being  sanctified  and  civil- 
ized ;  and  that  many  seek  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  are  not  far  from  it,  and  arrive  to  the  almost 
of  Christianity,  and  yet  fall  short  at  last.  While  con- 
science holds  the  whip  over  them,  many  will  pray,  hear, 
read,  and  forbear  their  delightful  sins ;  but  no  sooner 
is  the  lion  asleep  than  they  are  at  their  sins  again.  Who 
more  religious  than  the  Jews  when  God's  hand  was 
upon  them :  yet  no  sooner  was  the  affliction  over,  than 
they  forgot  God.  Thou  mayst  have  forsaken  a  trouble- 
some sin,  and  have  escaped  the  gross  pollutions  of  the 
world,  and  yet  in  all  this  not  have  changed  thy  carnal 
nature. 

You  may  cast  lead  out  of  the  rude  mass  into  the  more 
comely  proportion  of  a  plant,  and  then  into  the  shape 
of  a  beast,  and  thence  into  the  form  and  features  of  a 
man,  yet  all  the  while  it  is  but  lead  still ;  so  a  man  may 
pass  through  divers  transmutations,  from  ignorance  to 
knowledge,  from  profaneness  to  civility,  thence  to  a 
form  of  religion,  and  all  this  time  he  is  but  carnal  and 
unregenerate  whilst  his  nature  remains  unchanged. 

"  Hear  then,  O  sinners,  hear  as  you  would  live.  Why 
would  you  wilfully  deceive  yourselves,  or  build  your 
hopes  upon  the  sand  ?  I  know  that  he  may  find  hard 
work  that  goes  to  pluck  away  your  hopes.  It  cannot  but 
be  ungrateful  to  you,  and  truly  it  is  not  pleasing  to  me  ; 
I  set  about  it  as  a  surgeon  when  about  to  cut  off  a  mor- 
tified limb  from  his  well-beloved  friend,  which  of  ne- 
cessity he  must  do,  though  with  an  aching  heart.  But 
understand  me — I  am  only  taking  down  the  ruinous 
house,  which  will  otherwise  speedily  fall  of  itself  and 


Chap.  I.]  MISTAKES   ABOUT   CONVERSION.  13 

bury  you  in  the  ruins,  that  I  may  build  it  fair,  strong, 
and  firm  for  ever.  The  hope  of  the  wicked  shall  perish. 
And  hadst  not  thou  better,  O  sinner,  let  the  word  con- 
vince thee  now  in  time,  and  let  go  thy  false  and  self- 
deluding  hopes,  than  have  death  too  late  to  open  thine 
eyes,  and  find  thyself  in  hell  before  thou  art  aware  ?  I 
should  be  a  false  and  faithless  shepherd  if  I  should  not 
tell  you,  that  you,  who  have  built  your  hopes  upon  no 
better  grounds  than  these  before  mentioned,  are  yet  in 
your  sins.  Let  conscience  speak  :  What  is  it  that  you 
have  to  plead  for  yourselves  ?  Is  it  that  you  wear 
Christ's  livery  ?  that  you  bear  his  name?  that  you  are 
of  the  visible  church  ?  that  you  have  knowledge  in  the 
points  of  religion,  are  civilized,  perform  religious  duties. 
are  just  in  your  dealings,  have  been  troubled  in  con- 
science for  your  sins  ?  I  tell  you  from  the  Lord,  these 
pleas  will  never  be  accepted  at  God's  bar ;  all  this, 
though  good  in  itself,  will  not  prove  you  converted, 
and  so  will  not  suffice  to  your  salvation.  O  look  about 
you  and  bethink  yourselves  of  turning  speedily  and 
entirely.  Study  your  own  hearts  ;  rest  not  till  God  has 
made  thorough  work  with  you ;  for  you  must  be  other 
men,  or  else  you  are  lost  men. 

But  if  these  characters  be  short  of  conversion,  what 
shall  I  say  of  the  yvofane  sinner?  It  may  be  he  will 
scarcely  cast  his  eyes  or  lend  his  ear  to  this  discourse  ; 
but  if  there  be  any  such  reading  or  within  hearing,  he 
must  know  from  the  Lord  that  made  him,  that  he  is 
far  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  May  a  man  be  true  in 
his  dealings,  and  yet  not  be  justified  of  God  ?  what  then 
will  become  of  thee,  O  wretched  man,  whose  con- 
science tells  thee  thou  art  false  in  thy  trade,  and  false 
to  thy  word,  and  makest  thy  advantage  by  a  lying 
tongue?  If  men  may  be  enlightened  and  brought 
2 


14  THE   NATURE    OP  CONVERSION.  [Chap.  II. 

to  the  external  performance  of  holy  duties,  and  yet 
go  down  to  perdition  for  resting  in  them  and  sitting 
down  on  this  side  of  conversion,  what  will  become 
of  you,  O  miserable  families,  that  live  without  God 
in  the  world  ?  and  of  you,  O  wretched  sinners,  with 
whom  God  is  scarcely  in  all  your  thoughts ;  that  are 
so  ignorant  that  you  cannot,  or  so  careless  that  you 
will  not  pray  ?  O  repent  and  be  converted  ;  break  off 
your  sins  by  righteousness ;  away  to  Christ  for  pardon- 
ing and  renewing  grace  ;  give  up  yourselves  to  him,  to 
walk  with  him  in  holiness,  or  you  shall  never  see  God. 
O  that  you  would  take  the  warnings  of  God  !  In  his 
name  I  once  more  admonish  you :  turn  ye  at  my  re- 
proof. Forsake  the  foolish,  and  live.  Be  sober,  righte- 
ous, and  godly.  Wash  your  hands,  ye  sinners  ;  purify 
your  hearts,  ye  double-minded.  Cease  to  do  evil,  learn 
to  do  well.  But  if  you  will  not,  you  must  die. 


CHAPTER    II. 
Showing  positively  what  Conversion  is. 

I  may  not  leave  you  with  your  eyes  half  open,  like 
him  that  saw  "  men  as  trees  walking."  The  word  is 
profitable  for  doctrine  as  well  as  reproof.  And  therefore, 
having  thus  exposed  some  dangerous  mistakes,  I  would 
guide  you  at  length  into  the  way  of  truth. 

Conversion  then,  in  short,  lies  in  the  thorough  change 
both  of  the  heart  and  life.  I  shall  briefly  describe  it  in 
its  nature  and  causes. 

1.  The  author  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  therefore  it  is 
called  "  the  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,"  and  "  the  re- 
newing of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  yet  not  excluding  the  other 


Chap.  II.]     THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.  15 

persons  in  the  Trinity ;  for  the  apostle  teacheth  us  to 
"  bless  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  that  he 
hath  begotten  us  again."  And  Christ  is  said  to  give  re- 
pentance unto  Israel,  and  is  called  the  "  everlasting  Fa- 
ther," and  we  his  seed,  and  the  children  which  God 
hath  given  him.  Yet  this  work  is  principally  ascribed 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  so  we  are  said  to  be  "  born  of 
the  Spirit." 

So  then  regeneration  is  a  work  of  God :  "  We  are 
born,  not  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
but  of  God."  John,  1 :  13.  If  ever  thou  wouldst  be  sav- 
ingly converted,  thou  must  despair  of  doing  it  in  thine 
own  strength.  It  is  a  resurrection  from  the  dead,  Eph. 
2  :  1,  a  new  creation,  Gal.  6  :  15 ;  Eph.  2  :  10,  a  work 
of  absolute  omnipotence,  Eph.  1  :  19.  If  thou  hast  no 
more  than  thou  hadst  by  thy  first  birth,  a  good  nature, 
a  meek  and  chaste  temper,  &c.  thou  art  a  stranger  to 
true  conversion ;  this  is  a  supernatural  work. 

2.  The  causes  are  efficient  and  meritorious.  The 
efficient  cause  is  only  free  grace.  "  Not  by  works  of 
righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  of  his  mercy  he 
saved  us,"  and  "  by  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
"  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us." 

God  finds  nothing  in  man  to  excite  his  complacency. 
Look  back  upon  thyself,  O  Christian !  Do  not  thine 
own  clothes  abhor  thee  ?  Job,  9  :  31.  How  then  should 
holiness  and  pureness  love  thee  ?  Be  astonished,  O  hea- 
vens, at  this  ;  be  moved,  O  earth.  Who  but  must  needs 
cry,  grace !  grace  !  Hear  and  blush,  ye  children  of  the 
Most  High — O  ye  unthankful  generation !  that  free 
grace  is  no  more  in  your  mouths,  in  your  thoughts ;  no 
more  adored,  admired,  and  commended  by  such  as 
you !  One  would  think  you  should  be  doing  nothing 
but  praising  and  admiring  God  wherever   you  are. 


16  THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.     [Chap.  II 

How  can  you  forget  such  grace,  or  pass  it  over  with  a 
slight  and  formal  mention  ?  What  but  free  grace  could 
move  God  to  love  you,  unless  enmity  could  do  it,  un- 
less deformity  could  do  it  ?  How  affectionately  doth 
Peter  lift  up  his  hands  !  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Fa- 
ther of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  of  his  abundant  mercy 
hath  begotten  us  again."  How  feelingly  doth  Paul 
magnify  the  free  mercy  of  God  in  it !  "  God  who  is 
rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  has 
loved  us,  hath  quickened  us  together  with  Christ.  By 
grace  ye  are  saved." 

The  meritorious  cause  is  the  mediation  and  inter- 
cession of  the  blessed  Jesus.  He  hath  obtained  gifts  for 
the  rebellious,  and  through  him  it  is  that  God  worketh 
in  us  what  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight.  Through  him 
are  all  spiritual  blessings  bestowed  upon  us  in  heavenly 
things.  Every  convert  is  the  fruit  of  his  travail.  He  is 
made  sanctiflcation  to  us.  He  sanctified  himself,  (that 
is,  set  apart  himself  as  a  sacrifice,)  that  we  may  be 
sanctified. 

It  is  nothing  then  beyond  his  own  love,  but  the  me- 
rit and  intercession  of  Christ,  that  prevails  with  God 
to  bestow  on  us  converting  grace.  If  thou  art  a  new 
creature,  thou  knowest  to  whom  thou  owest  it;  to 
Christ's  agonies  and  prayers.  And  whither  else  shouldst 
thou  go  1  If  any  in  the  world  can  show  that  for  thy 
heart  which  Christ  can,  let  them  do  it.  Doth  Satan  claim 
thee  ?  Doth  the  world  court  thee?  Doth  sin  sue  for 
thy  heart  ?  Why  ?  were  these  crucified  for  thee  ?  O 
Christian,  love  and  serve  the  Lord  whilst  thou  hast  a 
being. 

3.  The  instrument  is  either  personal  or  real.  Th© 
personal  is  the  ministry.  I  have  begotten  you  in  Christ 
through  the  Gospel.  Christ's  ministers  are  they  that 


Chap.  II.  J     THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.  17 

are  sent  to  open  men's  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  to  God* 
Acts,  26  :  18. 

O  unthankful  world,  little  do  you  know  what  you 
are  doing  while  you  are  slighting  the  messengers  of 
the  Lord  !  These  are  they  whose  business  it  is  (under 
Christ)  to  save  you.  Whom  have  you  reproached  and 
blasphemed?  Against  whom  have  you  exalted  your 
voice,  and  lifted  your  eyes  on  high  ?  "  These  are  the 
servants  of  the  most  high  God,  that  show  unto  you  the 
way  of  salvation,"  and  do  you  thus  requite  them,  O 
foolish  and  unwise!  0  sons  of  ingratitude!  against 
whom  do  ye  sport  yourselves !  These  are  the  instru- 
ments that  God  uses  to  convert  and  save  sinners  :  and 
do  you  revile  your  physicians,  and  throw  your  pilots 
overboard  ?  "  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do." 

The  real  instrument  is  the  word.  We  are  begotten 
by  the  word  of  truth.  This  it  is  that  enlightens  the 
eye;  that  converts  the  soul,  Psalm  19  :  7,  8;  that  mak- 
eth  wise  to  salvation.  2  Tim.  3  :  15.  This  is  the  in- 
corruptible seed,  by  which  we  are  born  again.  1  Pet. 
1  :  23.  If  we  are  washed,  it  is  by  the  word.  Eph.  5  : 
26.  If  we  are  sanctified,  it  is  through  the  truth.  John, 
17  :  17. 

O  ye  saints,  how  should  ye  love  the  word !  for  by 
this  you  have  been  converted  :  O  ye  sinners,  how 
should  you  ply  the  word  !  for  by  means  of  this  you 
must  be  converted.  You  that  have  felt  its  renewing 
power,  make  much  of  it  while  you  live ;  be  for  ever 
thankful  for  it ;  tie  it  about  your  neck ;  write  it  upon 
your  hand;  lay  it  in  your  bosom.  When  you  go,  let 
it  lead  yon ;  when  you  sleep,  let  it  keep  you  ;  when  you 
wake,  let  it  talk  with  you  :  say  with  holy  David,  "  I 
will  never  forget  thy  precepts,  for  by  them  thou  hast 
2* 


18  THE    NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  [diap.   II. 

quickened  me."  You  that  are  unconverted,  read  the 
word  with  diligence;  flock  to  it  where  powerfully 
preached :  pray  for  the  coming  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
word;  come  from  your  knees  to  the  sermon,  and  come 
to  your  knees  from  the  sermon.  The  seed  doth  not 
prosper,  because  not  watered  by  prayers  and  tears,  nor 
covered  by  meditation. 

4.  The  final  cause  is  mail's  salvation,  and  GocVs 
glory.  We  are  chosen  through  sanctification  to  salva- 
tion ;  called  that  we  might  be  glorified ;  but  especially 
that  God  might  be  glorified,  that  we  should  "  show 
forth  his  praise,"  and  "  be  fruitful  in  good  works."  O 
Christian  !  do  not  forget  the  end  of  thy  calling  ;  "  let 
thy  light  shine,"  let  thy  lamp  burn  ;  let  thy  fruits  be 
good,  and  many,  and  in  season ;  let  all  thy  designs  fall 
in  with  God's,  that  he  may  "  be  magnified  in  thee." 

5.  The  subject  is  the  sinner,  and  that  in  all  his  parts 
and  powers,  members  and  mind.  Thou  beginnest  at 
the  wrong  end,  if  thou  disputest  first  about  thine  elec- 
tion. Prove  thy  conversion,  and  then  never  doubt  of 
thy  election  :  or,  canst  thou  not  yet  prove  it  ?  set  upon 
a  present  and  thorough  turning.  Whatever  God's  pur- 
poses be,  (which  are  secret,)  I  am  sure  his  precepts  are 
plain.  How  desperately  do  rebels  argue !  if  I  am  elected 
I  shall  be  saved,  do  what  I  will;  if  not,  I  shall  be  damn- 
ed, do  what  I  can.  Perverse  sinner !  wilt  thou  begin 
where  thou  shouldest  end?  Is  not  the  word  before 
thee  ?  WThat  saith  it?  "  Repent  and  be  converted,  that 
your  sins  may  be  blotted  out."  "  If  you  mortify  the 
deeds  of  the  body  you  shall  live."  "  Believe  and  be 
saved."  What  can  be  plainer  ?  Do  not  stand  still  dis- 
puting about  thine  election,  but  set  to  repenting  and 
believing ;  cry  to  God  for  converting  grace.  Revealed 
things  belong  to  thee ;  in  these  busy  thyself.    It  is  just 


Chap.  II.]  THE    NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  19 

(as  one  well  said)  that  they  who  will  not  feed  on  the 
plain  food  of  the  word  should  be  choked  with  the 
bones.  Whatever  God's  purposes  be,  I  am  sure  his 
promises  are  true ;  whatever  the  decrees  of  heaven  be, 
I  am  sure  that  if  I  repent  and  believe,  I  shall  be  saved ; 
and  that  if  I  repent  not,  I  shall  be  damned.  Is  not 
here  plain  ground  for  thee?  and  wilt  thou  yet  run 
upon  the  rocks '? 

More  particularly,  this  change  of  conversion  passes 
throughout  the  whole  man.  A  carnal  person  may 
have  some  shreds  of  good  morality,  but  he  is  never 
good  throughout  the  whole  body  of  holiness  and  Chris- 
tianity. Conversion  is  not  repairing  of  the  old  build- 
ing ;  but  it  takes  all  down,  and  erects  a  new  structure : 
it  is  not  the  putting  in  a  patch  of  holiness;  but  with 
the  true  convert  holiness  is  woven  into  all  his  powers, 
principles,  and  practice.  The  sincere  Christian  is  quite 
a  new  fabric,  from  the  foundation  to  the  top-stone.  He 
is  a  new  man,  a  new  creature.  All  things  are  become 
new.  Conversion  is  a  deep  work,  a  heart-work.  It  goes 
throughout  with  men,  throughout  the  mind,  through- 
out the  members,  throughout  the  motions  of  the 
whole  life. 

I.  Throughout  the  mind.  It  makes  a  universal 
change  within. 

1.  It  turns  the  balance  of  the  judgment ;  so  that  God 
and  his  glory  do  weigh  down  all  carnal  and  worldly 
interests.  It  opens  the  eye  of  the  mind,  and  makes  the 
scales  of  its  native  ignorance  to  fall  off,  and  turns  men 
from  darkness  to  light.  The  man  that  before  saw  no 
danger  in  his  condition,  now  concludes  himself  lost, 
and  for  ever  undone,  except  renewed  by  the  power  of 


20  THE   NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  II. 

grace.  He  that  formerly  thought  there  was  little  hurt 
in  sin,  now  comes  to  see  it  to  be  the  chief  of  evils ;  he 
sees  the  unreasonableness,  the  unrighteousness,  the  de- 
formity and  filthiness  of  sin ;  so  that  he  is  affrighted 
with  it,  loathes  it,  dreads  it,  flees  from  it,  and  even  ab 
hors  himself  for  it.  He  that  could  see  little  sin  in  him- 
self, and  could  find  no  matter  for  confession,  now  sees 
the  rottenness  of  his  heart,  the  desperate  and  deep  pol- 
lution of  his  whole  nature ;  he  cries,  Unclean,  unclean: 
Lord,  purge  me  with  hyssop,  wash  me  thoroughly, 
create  in  me  a  clean  heart.  He  sees  himself  altogether 
filthy,  corrupt,  both  root  and  tree ;  he  writes  unclean 
upon  all  his  parts,  and  powers,  and  performances ;  he 
discovers  the  filthy  corners  that  he  was  never  aware  of, 
and  sees  the  blasphemy,  and  theft,  and  murder,  and 
adultery,  that  is  in  his  heart,  which  before  he  was  ig- 
norant of. 

Heretofore  he  saw  no  form  nor  comeliness  in  Christ, 
nor  beauty,  that  he  should  desire  him ;  but  now  he 
finds  the  hidden  treasure,  and  will  sell  all  to  buy  this 
field.    Christ  is  the  pearl  he  seeks. 

Now,  according  to  this  new  light,  the  man  is  of  an- 
other mind,  another  judgment,  than  he  was  before. 
Now  God  is  all  with  him,  he  hath  none  in  heaven,  nor 
in  earth  like  him ;  he  prefers  him  truly  before  all  the 
world;  his  favor  is  his  life,  the  light  of  his  counte- 
nance is  more  than  corn,  or  wine,  and  oil.  A  hypo- 
crite may  come  to  yield  a  general  assent  to  this,  that 
God  is  the  chief  good ;  yea,  the  wiser  heathens  (some 
few  of  them)  have  at  last  stumbled  upon  this:  but 
there  is  a  difference  between  the  absolute  and  compa- 
rative judgment  of  the  understanding.  No  hypocrite 
comes  so  far  as  to  look  upon  God  as  the  most  desirable 
and  suitable  good  to  him,  and  thereupon  to  acquiesce 


Chap.  II.]    THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.  21 

in  him.  This  is  the  convert's  voice :  "  The  Lord  is  my 
portion,  saith  my  soul.  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but 
thee?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside 
thee.  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my  portion 
for  ever." 

2.  It  turns  the  bias  of  the  will  both  as  to  means  and 
end.  The  intentions  of  the  will  are  altered.  Now  the 
man  hath  new  ends  and  designs ;  now  he  intends  God 
above  all,  and  desires  and  designs  nothing  in  all  the 
world  so  much  as  that  Christ  may  be  magnified  in  him. 
He  counts  himself  more  happy  in  this  than  in  all  that 
the  earth  could  yield,  that  he  may  be  serviceable  to 
Christ,  and  bring  him  glory.  This  is  the  mark  he 
aims  at,  that  the  name  of  Jesus  may  be  great  in  the 
world. 

Reader,  dost  thou  view  this,  and  never  ask  thyself 
whether  it  be  thus  with  thee?  Pause  a  while,  and 
breathe  on  this  great  concernment. 

The  choice  is  also  changed.  He  pitcheth  upon  God 
as  his  blessedness,  and  upon  Christ  and  holiness  as 
means  to  bring  him  to  God.  He  chooseth  Jesus  for 
his  Lord.  He  is  not  merely  forced  to  Christ  by  the 
storm,  nor  doth  he  take  Christ  for  bare  necessity,  but 
he  comes  freely ;  he  deliberately  resolves  that  Christ 
is  his  best  choice,  and  would  rather  have  him  than  all 
the  good  of  this  world,  might  he  enjoy  it  while  he 
would.  Again,  he  takes  holiness  for  his  path ;  he  does 
not  of  mere  necessity  submit  to  it,  but  he  likes  and 
loves  it :  "  /  have  chosen  the  way  of  thy  precepts." 
He  takes  God's  testimonies,  not  as  his  bondage,  but  as 
his  heritage ;  yea,  heritage  for  ever.  He  counts  them 
not  his  burden,  but  his  bliss;  not  his  cords,  but  his 
cordials.  He  does  not  only  bear,  but  takes  up  Christ's 
yoke :  he  takes  not  holiness  as  the  stomach  does  the 


22  THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.    [Chap.  II. 

loathed  potion,  (which  a  man  will  take  rather  than 
die,)  but  as  the  hungry  doth  his  beloved  food.  No 
time  passeth  so  sweetly  with  him  (when  he  is  him- 
self) as  that  he  spends  in  the  exercises  of  holiness. 
These  are  both  his  aliment  and  element,  the  desire  of 
his  eyes  and  the  joy  of  his  heart.  Put  thy  conscience 
to  it  as  thou  goest,  whether  thou  art  the  man.  O  hap- 
py man,  if  this  be  thy  case!  But  see  thou  be  impartial 
in  the  decision. 

3.  It  turns  the  bent  of  the  affections.  These  run  all 
in  a  new  channel.  Christ  is  his  hope.  This  is  his 
prize.  Here  his  eye  is :  here  his  heart.  He  is  con- 
tented to  cast  all  overboard,  (as  the  merchant  in  the 
storm  ready  to  perish,)  so  he  may  but  keep  this  jewel. 

The  first  of  his  desires  is  not  after  gold,  but  grace. 
He  hungers  after  it,  he  seeks  it  as  silver,  he  digs  for  it 
as  for  hid  treasure ;  he  had  rather  be  gracious  than  be 
great ;  he  had  rather  be  the  holiest  man  on  earth  than 
the  most  learned,  the  most  famous,  the  most  prosper- 
ous. While  carnal,  he  said,  O  if  I  were  but  in  great 
esteem,  rolling  in  wealth,  and  swimming  in  pleasure  I 
if  my  debts  were  paid,  and  I  and  mine  provided  for, 
then  I  were  a  happy  man !  but  now  the  tone  is  changed. 
O !  saith  the  convert,  if  I  had  but  my  corruptions  sub- 
dued, if  I  had  such  measures  of  grace,  such  fellowship 
with  God,  though  I  were  poor  and  despised  1  should 
not  care,  I  should  account  myself  a  blessed  man.  Read- 
er, is  this  the  language  of  thy  soul? 

His  joys  are  changed.  He  rejoiceth  in  the  ways  of 
God's  testimonies  as  much  as  in  all  riches.  He  de- 
lights in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  wherein  once  he  had 
little  savor.  He  hath  no  such  joy  as  in  the  thoughts 
of  Christ,  the  fruition  of  his  company,  the  prosperity 
of  his  people. 


Chap.  II.]  THE    NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  23 

His  cares  are  quite  altered.  He  was  once  set  for 
the  world;  now  his  cry  is,  "What  6hall  I  do  to  be 
saved?"  His  great  solicitude  is  to  secure  his  soul. 
O  how  would  he  bless  you  if  you  could  but  put  him 
out  of  doubt  of  this! 

His  fears,  however,  are  not  so  much  of  suffering  as 
of  sinning.  Once  he  was  afraid  of  nothing  so  much 
as  the  loss  of  his  estate  or  reputation;  nothing  sound- 
ed so  terrible  to  him  as  pain,  or  poverty,  or  disgrace ; 
now  these  are  little  to  him,  in  comparison  of  God's 
dishonor  or  displeasure.  How  warily  doth  he  walk, 
lest  he  should  tread  upon  a  snare !  He  feareth  alway; 
he  hath  his  eye  upon  his  heart,  and  is  ever  watchful 
lest  he  should  be  overtaken  with  sin.  No  thought  in 
the  world  would  pain  him  so  much  as  to  think  of  part- 
ing with  Christ. 

His  love  runs  a  new  course.  My  love  was  crucified, 
(saith  Ignatius,)  that  is,  my  Christ.  This  is  my  be- 
loved, saith  the  spouse.  Cant.  5 :  16. 

How  doth  Augustine  often  pour  his  love  upon  Christ ! 
O  "eternal  blessedness!"  &c.  He  can  find  no  words 
sweet  enough.  "Let  me  see  thee,.0  light  of  mine 
eyes.  Come,  O  thou  joy  of  my  spirit.  Let  me  behold 
thee,  O  life  of  my  soul.  Appear  unto  me,  O  my  great 
delight,  my  sweet  comfort:  O  my  God,  my  life,  and 
the  whole  glory  of  my  soul.  Let  me  find  thee,  O  de- 
sire of  my  heart.  Let  me  hold  thee,  O  love  of  my  soul. 
Let  me  embrace  thee,  O  heavenly  bridegroom.  Let 
me  possess  thee !" 

His  sorrows  have  now  a  new  vent.  The  view  of  his 
sins,  the  sight  of  Christ  crucified,  that  could  scarcely 
stir  him  before,  now  how  much  do  they  affect  his  heart ! 

His  hatred  boils,  his  anger  burns  against  sin.  He 
aath  no  patience  with  himself:  he  calls  himself  fool 


24  THE   NATURE    OF  CONVERSION.  [Chap.  11. 

and  beast,  and  thinks  any  name  too  good  for  himself, 
when  his  indignation  is  stirred  up  against  sin.  Psalm 
73 :  22.  Prov.  30 : 2.  He  could  once  delight  in  it  with 
much  pleasure ;  now  he  loathes  the  thought  of  return- 
ing to  it. 

Commune  then  with  thine  own  heart,  and  attend  the 
general  current  of  thine  affections,  whether  they  be 
toward  God  in  Christ  above  all  other  concernments. 
Indeed,  sudden  and  strong  motions  of  the  affections 
are  oft-times  found  in  hypocrites,  especially  where  the 
natural  temperament  is  warm.  And,  contrariwise,  the 
sanctified  themselves  are  many  times  without  sensible 
stirring  of  the  affections,  where  the  temper  is  more 
slow,  dry,  and  dull.  The  great  inquiry  is,  whether  the 
judgment  and  will  be  steadily  determined  for  God 
above  all  other  good,  real  or  apparent ;  if  so,  and  if  the 
affections  do  sincerely  follow  their  choice  and  conduct, 
though  it  be  not  so  strongly  and  sensibly  as  is  to  be 
desired,  there  is  no  doubt  but  the  change  is  saving. 

II.  Throughout  the  members.  Those  that  were  be- 
fore the  instruments  of  sin,  are  now  become  the  holy 
utensils  of  Christ's  living  kingdom.  He  that  before 
dishonored  his  body,  now  possesses  his  vessel  in  sanc- 
tification  and  honor,  in  temperance,  chastity,  and  so- 
briety, and  dedicates  it  to  the  Lord. 

The  eye  that  was  once  a  wandering  eye,  a  wanton 
eye,  a  haughty,  a  covetous  eye,  is  now  employed  (as- 
Mary's)  in  weeping  over  its  sins,  in  beholding  God  in 
his  works,  in  reading  his  word,  or  in  looking  for  ob- 
jects of  mercy  and  opportunities  for  his  service. 

The  ear  that  was  once  open  to  Satan's  call,  is  now 
open  to  the  voice  of  Christ's  house,  and  to  his  disci- 
pline. It  saith.  "  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth.* 


Chap.  II.]  THE   NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  25 

It  waits  for  his  words  as  the  rain,  and  relishes  them 
more  than  the  appointed  food,  "  more  than  the  honey 
and  the  honey-comb." 

The  head  that  was  the  shop  of  worldly  designs,  is 
now  filled  with  other  matters,  and  set  on  the  study  of 
God's  will,  and  the  man  employs  his  head  not  so  much 
about  his  gain  as  about  his  duty.  The  thoughts  and 
cares  that  fill  his  head  are,  principally,  how  he  may 
please  God  and  flee  sin. 

His  heart  that  was  filled  with  filthy  lusts,  is  now  be- 
come an  altar  of  incense,  where  the  fire  of  divine  love 
is  ever  kept  burning,  and  whence  the  daily  sacrifices 
of  prayer  and  praise,  and  the  sweet  incense  of  holy  de- 
sires, ejaculations,  and  prayers,  are  continually  as- 
cending. 

The  mouth  is  become  a  well  of  life,  his  tongue  as 
choice  silver,  and  his  lips  feed  many ;  now  the  salt  of 
grace  has  seasoned  his  speech,  has  eaten  out  the  cor- 
ruption, Col.  4  :  6,  and  cleansed  the  mouth  from  its 
filthy  communication,  flattery,  boasting,  and  backbiting, 
that  once  came  like  flashes  that  proceeded  from  the 
hell  that  was  in  the  heart.  The  throat,  that  was  once 
an  open  sepulchre,  now  sends  forth  the  sweet  breath  of 
prayer  and  holy  discourses,  and  the  man  speaks  in  ano- 
ther tongue,  even  the  language  of  Canaan,  and  is  never 
so  well  as  when  talking  of  God  and  Christ,  and  the 
matters  of  another  world.  His  mouth  bringeth  wisdom  ; 
his  tongue  is  become  the  silver  trumpet  of  his  Maker's 
praise,  his  glory,  and  the  best  member  that  he  hath. 

Now  here  you  will  find  the  hypocrite  sadly  deficient. 
He  speaks  (it  may  be)  like  an  angel,  but  he  hath  a  co- 
vetous eye,  or  the  gain  of  unrighteousness  in  his  hand  ; 
or  the  hand  is  white,  but  his  heart  is  full  of  rottenness, 
Matt.  23  :  27,  full  of  unmortified  cares,  a  very  oven  of 
3 


26  THE  NATURE  OP  CONVERSION.    [Chap.  II. 

lust,  a  shop  of  pride,  the  seat  of  malice.  It  may  be, 
with  Nebuchadnezzar's  image,  he  hath  a  golden  head, 
a  great  deal  of  knowledge ;  but  he  hath  feet  of  clay, 
his  affections  are  worldly,  he  minds  earthly  things,  and 
his  way  and  walk  are  sensual  and  carnal. 

III.  Throughout  the  life  and  practice,  the  new  man 
takes  a  new  course.  His  "  conversation  is  in  heaven." 
No  sooner  doth  Christ  call  by  effectual  grace,  but  he 
straightway  becomes  a  "  follower  of  him."  When  God 
hath  given  the  new  heart,  and  written  his  law  in  his 
mind,  he  forthwith  walks  in  his  statutes,  and  keeps  his 
judgments. 

Though  sin  may  dwell  (truly  a  wearisome  and  un- 
welcome guest)  in  him,  yet  it  hath  "  no  more  domi- 
nion over  him."  "  He  hath  his  fruit  unto  holiness," 
and  though  he  makes  many  a  blot,  yet  the  law  of  life 
and  Jesus  is  what  he  looks  at  as  his  copy,  and  he  hath 
an  unfeigned  respect  to  all  God's  commandments, 
making  conscience  even  of  every  duty.  His  very  infir- 
mities, which  he  cannot  help  though  he  would,  are  his 
soul's  burden,  and  are  like  the  dust  in  a  man's  eye,, 
which  though  but  little,  yet  is  not  a  little  troublesome. 
(O  man !  dost  thou  read  this  and  never  turn  in  upon 
thy  soul-  by  self-examination  ?)  The  sincere  convert 
is  not  one  man  at  the  place  of  worship  and  another  at 
home ;  he  is  not  a  saint  on  his  knees,  and  a  cheat  in 
his  shop ;  he  will  not  tithe  mint  and  cummin,  and  ne- 
glect mercy  and  judgment,  and  the  weighty  matters 
of  the  law ;  he  doth  not  pretend  to  piety  and  neglect 
morality;  but  he  turns  from  all  his  sins,  and  keeps  all 
God's  statutes,  though  not  perfectly,  (except  in  desire 
and  endeavor,)  yet  sincerely;  not  allowing  himself  in 
the  breach  of  any.    Now  he  delights  in  the  word,  and 


Chap.  II.J     THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.  27 

sets  himself  to  prayer,  and  opens  his  hand  and  draws 
out  his  soul  to  the  hungry.  "  He  breaketh  off  his  sins 
by  righteousness,  and  his  iniquities  by  showing  mercy 
to  the  poor,"  and  hath  "  a  good  conscience,  willing  in 
all  things  to  live  honestly,"  and  to  keep  it  without  of- 
fence toward  God  and  man. 

Here  again  you  find  the  unsoundness  of  many  pro- 
fessors who  consider  themselves  good  Christians;  they 
are  partial  in  the  law,  and  take  up  with  the  cheap  and 
easy  duties  of  religion,  but  go  not  through  with  the 
work.  It  may  be  you  find  them  exact  in  their  words, 
punctual  in  their  dealings,  but  then  they  do  not  exer- 
cise themselves  unto  godliness ;  and  as  for  examining 
themselves  and  governing  their  hearts,  to  this  they  are 
strangers.  You  may  see  them  duly  at  the  church ;  but 
follow  them  to  their  families,  and  there  you  shall  see 
little  but  the  world  minded  ;  or  if  they  have  family 
duties,  follow  them  to  their  closets,  and  there  you  shall 
find  their  souls  are  little  looked  after.  It  may  be  they 
seem  otherwise  religious,  but  bridle  not  their  tongues, 
and  so  "all  their  religion  is  vain."  It  may  be  they 
come  up  to  closet  and  family  prayer  ;  but  follow  them 
to  their  shops,  and  there  you  find  them  in  the  habit  of 
lying,  or  some  covert  and  fashionable  way  of  deceit. 
Thus  the  hypocrite  goes  not  throughout  in  the  course 
of  his  obedience. 

The  objects  from  which  we  turn  in  conversion  are, 
sin,  Satan,  the  world,  and  our  own  righteousness. 

1.  Sin.  When  a  man  is  converted,  he  is  for  ever  at 
enmity  with  sin ;  yea,  with  all  sin,  but  most  of  all  -with 
his  own  sins,  and  especially  with  his  bosom  sin.  Sin 
is  now  the  object  of  his  indignation.  His  sins  swell  his 


28  THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.    [.Chap.  IL 

sorrows.  It  is  sin  that  pierces  him  and  wounds  him  ; 
he  feels  it  like  a  thorn  in  his  side,  like  a  prick  in  his 
eyes :  he  groans  and  struggles  under  it,  and  not  for- 
mally, but  feelingly  cries  out,  "  O  wretched  man  !"  He 
is  not  impatient  of  any  burden  so  much  as  of  his  sin. 
If  God  should  give  him  his  choice,  he  would  choose 
any  affliction  so  he  might  be  rid  of  sin  ;  he  feels  it  like 
the  cutting  gravel  in  his  shoes,  pricking  and  paining 
him  as  he  goes. 

Before  conversion,  he  had  light  thoughts  of  sin  ;  he 
cherished  it  in  his  bosom,  as  Uriah  his  lamb  ;  he  nou- 
rished it  up,  and  it  grew  up  together  with  him  ;  it  did 
eat,  as  it  were,  of  his  own  meat,  and  drank  of  his  own 
cup,  and  lay  in  his  bosom,  and  was  to  him  as  a  daugh- 
ter. But  when  God  opens  his  eyes  by  conversion,  he 
throws  it  away  with  abhorrence,  as  a  man  would  a 
loathsome  toad,  which  in  the  dark  he  had  hugged  fast 
in  his  bosom,  and  thought  it  had  been  some  pretty  and 
harmless  bird.  When  a  man  is  savingly  changed,  he 
is  deeply  convinced  not  only  of  the  danger  but  the  de 
filement  of  sin  :  and  O  how  earnest  is  he  with  God  to 
be  purified  !  he  loathes  himself  for  his  sins.  He  runs  to 
Christ,  and  casts  himself  into  the  fountain  set  open  for 
sin  and  for  uncleanness.  If  he  fall,  he  has  no  rest  till 
he  flees  to  the  word,  and  washes  in  the  infinite  foun- 
tain, laboring  to  cleanse  himself  from  all  filthiness 
both  of  flesh  and  spirit :  he  abhors  his  once  beloved 
sin,  as  a  cleanly  nature  doth  the  mire  wherein  he  sees 
the  swine  delight. 

The  sound  convert  is  heartily  engaged  against  sin  ; 
he  struggles  with  it,  he  wars  against  it ;  he  is  too  often 
foiled,  but  he  will  never  yield  the  cause,  nor  lay  down 
the  weapons,  while  he  hath  breath  in  his  body;  he  will 
make  no  peace ;  he  will  give  no  quarter.    He  can  for- 


Chap.  II.  J  THE    NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  29 

give  his  other  enemies;  he  can  pity  them,  and  pray  for 
them ;  but  here  he  is  implacable,  here  he  is  set  upon 
extermination  ;  he  hunteth  as  it  were  for  the  pre- 
cious life  ;  his  eyes  shall  not  pity,  his  hand  shall  not 
spare,  though  it  be  a  right  hand  or  a  right  eye.  Be  it 
a  gainful  sin,  most  delightful  to  his  nature  or  the  sup- 
port of  his  esteem  with  worldly  friends,  yet  he  wi*  ra- 
ther throw  his  gain  down  the  kennel,  see  his  credit 
fall,  or  the  flower  of  pleasure  wither  in  his  hand,  than 
he  will  allow  himself  in  any  known  way  of  sin.  He 
will  grant  no  indulgence,  he  will  give  no  tole/ation ; 
he  draws  upon  sin  wherever  he  meets  it,  and  frowns 
upon  it  with  this  unwelcome  salute,  "  Have  I  found 
thee,  O  mine  enemy  ?" 

Reader,  hath  conscience  been  at  work  while  thou 
hast  been  looking  over  these  lines?  Hast  thou  pon- 
dered these  things  in  thy  heart?  Hast  thou  searched 
the  book  within,  to  see  if  these  things  be  so  ?  If  not, 
read  it  again,  and  make  thy  conscience  speak,  whether 
or  not  it  be  thus  with  thee. 

Hast  thou  crucified  thy  flesh  with  its  affections  and 
lusts  ?  and  not  only  confessed,  but  forsaken  thy  sins, 
all  sin  in  thy  fervent  desires,  and  the  ordinary  practice 
of  every  deliberate  and  wilful  sin  in  thy  life?  If  not, 
thou  art  yet  unconverted.  Doth  not  conscience  fly  in 
thy  face  as  thou  readest,  and  tell  thee  that  thou  livest 
in  a  way  of  lying  for  thy  advantage;  that  thou  usest 
deceit  in  thy  calling;  that  there  is  some  way  of  secret 
wantonness  that  thou  livest  in  ?  why  then,  do  not  de- 
ceive thyself;  thou  art  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  the 
bond  of  iniquity. 

Doth  not  thy  unbridled  tongue,  thy  indulgence  of 
appetite,  thy  wicked  company,  thy  neglect  of  prayer, 
of  reading  and  hearing  the  word,  now  witness  against 
3* 


30  THE   NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  II. 

thee,  and  say,  "We  are  thy  works,  and  we  will  follow 
thee?"  Or,  if  I  have  not  hit  thee  right,  doth  not  the 
monitor  within  tell  thee,  there  is  such  or  such  a  way 
that  thou  knowest  to  be  evil,  that  yet  for  some  carnal 
respect  thou  dost  tolerate  thyself  in  ?  If  this  be  thy 
case,  thou  art  to  this  day  unregenerate,  and  must  be 
changed  or  condemned. 

2.  Satan.  Conversion  binds  the  strong  man,  spoils 
his  armor,  casts  out  his  goods,  turns  men  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God.  Before,  the  devil  could  no 
sooner  hold  up  his  finger  to  the  sinner  to  call  him  to 
his  wicked  company,  sinful  games,  and  filthy  delights, 
but  presently  he  followed,  like  an  ox  to  the  slaughter, 
and  a  fool  to  the  correction  of  the  stocks ;  as  the  bird 
that  hasteth  to  the  prey,  and  knoweth  not  that  it  is  for 
his  life.  No  sooner  could  Satan  bid  him  lie,  but  pre- 
sently he  had  it  on  his  tongue.  No  sooner  could  Satan 
offer  a  wanton  object,  but  he  was  stung  with  lust.  If 
the  devil  says,  "Away  with  these  family  duties,"  be 
sure  they  shall  be  rarely  enough  c  performed  in  his 
house.  If  the  devil  says,  "Away  with  this  strictness, 
thispreciseness,"  he  will  keep  far  enough  from  it:  it 
he  tells  him,  "There  is  no  need  of  these  closet-duties," 
he  shall  go  from  day  to  day  and  scarcely  perform 
them.  But  since  he  is  converted  he  serves  another 
Master,  and  takes  quite  another  course :  he  goes  and 
comes  at  Christ's  bidding.  Satan  may  sometimes  catch 
his  foot  in  a  trap,  but  he  will  no  longer  be  a  willing 
captive;  he  watches  against  the  snares  and  baits  of 
Satan,  and  studies  to  be  acquainted  with  his  devices; 
he  is  very  suspicious  of  his  plots,  and  is  very  jealous 
in  what  comes  across  him,  lest  Satan  should  have  some 
design  upon  him;  he  "wrestles  against  principalities 
and  powers;"  he  entertains  the  messenger  of  Satan 


Chap.  II.]     THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.  31 

as  men  do  the  messenger  of  death ;  he  keeps  his  eye 
upon  his  enemy,  and  watches  in  his  duties,  lest  Satan 
should  put  in  his  foot. 

3.  The  World.  Before  a  man  has  lively  faith,  he  is 
overcome  of  the  world;  either  he  bows  down  to  mam- 
mon, or  idolizes  his  reputation,  or  is  a  "lover  of  plea- 
sure more  than  a  lover  of  God."  Here  is  the  root  of 
man's  misery  by  the  fall;  he  is  turned  aside  to  the 
creature,  and  gives  that  esteem,  confidence,  and  affec- 
tion to  the  creature,  that  is  due  to  God  alone. 

O  miserable  man,  what  a  deformed  monster  hath  sin 
made  thee!  God  made  thee  "little  lower  than  the  an- 
gels;" sin,  little  better  than  the  devils;  a  monster  that 
hath  his  head  and  heart  where  his  feet  should  be. 
The  world  that  was  formed  to  serve  thee,  is  come  to 
rule  thee, — the  deceitful  harlot  hath  bewitched  thee 
with  her  enchantments,  and  made  thee  bow  down  and 
serve  her. 

But  converting  grace  sets  all  in  order  again,  and 
puts  God  on  the  throne,  and  the  world  at  his  footstool; 
Christ  in  the  heart,  and  the  world  under  the  feet.  So 
Paul,  "  I  am  crucified  to  the  world,  and  the  world  to  me." 
Before  this  change,  all  the  cry  was,  "Who  will  show 
us  any  worldly  good?"  but  now  he  prays,  "Lord,  lift 
thou  up  the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  me,"  and 
take  the  corn  and  wine  whoso  will.  Before,  his  heart's 
delight  and  content  were  in  the  world ;  then  the  song 
was,  "Soul,  take  thy  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry: 
thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years;"  but 
now  all  this  is  withered,  and  there  is  no  comeliness, 
that  we  should  desire  it;  and  he  tunes  up  with  the 
sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel :  "The  Lord  is  the  portion  of 
my  inheritance;  the  lines  are  fallen  to  me  in  a  fair 
place,  and  I  have  a  goodly  heritage."   He  blesseth  him- 


32  THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.     [Chap.  II. 

self,  and  boasteth  himself  in  God.  Nothing  else  can 
give  him  content.  He  hath  written  vanity  and  vexa- 
tion upon  all  his  worldly  enjoyments,  and  loss  and 
dung  upon  all  human  excellencies.  He  hath  life  and 
immortality  now  in  pursuit.  He  pants  for  grace  and 
glory,  and  hath  a  crown  incorruptible  in  view.  His 
heart  is  set  in  him  to  seek  the  Lord.  He  first  seeks 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  righteousness  thereof, 
and  religion  is  no  longer  a  matter  by-the-by  with  him, 
but  his  main  care. 

Before,  the  world  had  the  sway  with  him  ;  he  would 
do  more  for  gain  than  godliness,  more  to  please  his 
friend,  or  his  flesh,  than  the  God  that  made  him ;  and 
God  must  stand  by  till  the  world  was  first  served. 
But  now  all  must  stand  by ;  he  hates  father  and  mo- 
ther, and  life,  and  all,  in  comparison  of  Christ.  Well 
then,  pause  a  little,  and  look  within.  Doth  not  this 
nearly  concern  thee  ?  Thou  pretendest  for  Christ,  but 
does  not  the  world  sway  thee  ?  Dost  thou  not  take 
more  real  delight  and  content  in  the  world  than  in  him? 
Dost  thou  not  find  thyself  better  at  ease  when  the 
world  goes  to  thy  mind,  and  thou  art  compassed  with 
carnal  delights,  than  when  retired  to  prayer  and  medi- 
tation in  thy  closet,  or  attending  upon  God's  word  and 
worship  ?  No  surer  evidence  of  an  unconverted  state, 
than  to  have  the  things  of  the  world  uppermost  in  our 
aim,  love,  and  estimation. 

With  the  sound  convert,  Christ  has  the  supremacy. 
How  dear  is  his  name  to  him!  How  precious  is  his 
favor!  The  name  of  Jesus  is  engraven  on  his  heart, 
Gil.  4  :  19,  and  lies  as  a  bundle  of  myrrh  between  Lis 
br^arts.  Cant.  1:13,  14.  Honor  is  but  air,  and  laugh- 
tei  is  but  madness,  and  mammon  is  fallen  like  dagon 
teforu  the  ark,  with  hands  and  head  broken  off  on  the 


Chap.  II.]  THE    NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  33 

threshold,  when  once  Christ  is  savingly  revealed.  Here 
is  the  pearl  of  great  price  to  the  true  convert ;  here  is 
his  treasure,  here  is  his  hope.  This  is  his  glory ;  my 
beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his.  O !  it  is  sweeter  to  him 
to  be  able  to  say,  Christ  is  mine,  than  if  he  could  say, 
the  kingdom  is  mine,  the  Indies  are  mine. 

4.  Our  own  righteousness.  Before  conversion,  man 
seeks  to  cover  himself  with  his  own  fig-leaves,  and  to 
make  himself  whole  with  his  own  duties.  He  is  apt 
to  trust  in  himself,  and  set  up  his  own  righteousness, 
and  to  reckon  his  counters  for  gold,  and  not  submit 
to  the  righteousness  of  God.  But  conversion  changes 
his  mind;  now  he  casts  away  his  filthy  rags,  and 
counts  his  own  righteousness  as  a  filthy  cloth.  He 
casts  it  off,  as  a  man  would  the  dirty  tatters  of  a  beg- 
gar. Now  he  is  brought  to  poverty  of  spirit,  complains 
of  and  condemns  himself,  and  all  his  inventory  is, 
"poor,  and  miserable,  and  wretched,  and  blind,  and 
naked."  He  sees  a  world  of  iniquity  in  his  holy  things, 
and  calls  his  once  idolized  righteousness  but  filth  and 
loss ;  and  would  not  for  a  thousand  worlds  be  found 
in  it.  Now  he  begins  to  set  a  high  price  upon  Christ's 
righteousness :  he  sees  the  need  of  Christ  in  every  duty, 
to  justify  his  person,  and  sanctify  his  performances; 
he  cannot  live  without  him :  he  cannot  pray  without 
him.  Christ  must  go  with  hi  m,  or  else  he  cannot  come 
into  the  presence  of  God ;  r  e  leans  upon  Christ,  and 
so  bows  himself  in  the  house  of  his  God  ;  he  sets  him- 
self down  for  a  lost  undone  man  without  him ;  his  life 
is  hid  in  Christ,  as  the  root  of  a  tree  spreads  in  the 
earth  for  stability  and  nutriment.  Before,  the  news  of 
Christ  was  a  stale  and  tasteless  thing,  but  now  how 
sweet  is  Christ !  Augustine  could  not  relish  his  before 
so  much  admired  Cicero,  because  he  could  not  find  in 


34_  THE    NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  [Chap.   II. 

his  writing  the  name  of  Christ!  How  emphatically 
cries  he,  "O  most  sweet,  most  loving,  most  kind,  most 
dear,  most  precious,  most  desired,  most  lovely,  most 
fair !"  &c.  Meditat.  c.  37,  all  in  a  breath,  when  he  speaks 
of  and  to  his  Christ.  In  a  word,  the  voice  of  the  con- 
vert is  with  the  martyr,  "None  but  Christ." 

The  ultimate  end  to  which  we  turn  in  conversion  is, 
God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  whom  the  true 
convert  takes  as  his  all-sufficient  and  eternal  blessed- 
ness. A  man  is  never  truly  sanctified  till  his  very 
heart  be  in  truth  set  upon  God  above  all  things,  as  his 
portion  and  chief  good.  These  are  the  natural  breath- 
ings of  a  believer's  heart :  "  Thou  art  my  portion." 
"My  soul  shall  make  her  boast  in  the  Lord."  "My 
expectation  is  from  him  ;  he  only  is  my  rock  and  my 
salvation ;  he  is  my  defence ;  in  God  is  my  salvation 
and  glory ;  the  rock  of  my  strength,  and  my  refuge  is 
in  God." 

Would  you  put  it  to  an  issue,  whether  you  be  con- 
verted or  not  ?  Now  let  thy  soul  and  all  that  is  within, 
thee  attend. 

Hast  thou  taken  God  for  thy  happiness  ?  Where  doth 
the  content  of  thy  heart  lie  ?  Whence  doth  thy  choicest 
comfort  come  in  ?  Come  then,  and  with  Abraham  lift 
up  thine  eyes  eastward,  and  westward,  and  northward, 
and  southward,  and  cast  about  thee,  what  is  it  that 
thou  wouldst  have  in  heaven  or  on  earth  to  make  thee 
happy  ?  If  God  should  give  thee  thy  choice,  as  he  did 
to  Solomon,  or  should  say  to  thee,  as  Ahasuerus  to 
Esther,  "  What  is  thy  petition,  and  what  is  thy  request, 
and  it  shall  be  granted  thee  ?"  what  wouldst  thou  ask? 
Go  into  the  gardens  of  pleasure,  and  gather  all  the  fra- 
grant flowers  thence  :  would  these  content  thee  ?    Go 


Chap.   II.]  THE    NATURE    OF    CONVERSION.  35 

to  the  treasures  of  Mammon ;  suppose  thou  mightest 
lade  thyself  as  thou  wouldst  from  hence.  Go  to  the 
towers,  to  the  trophies  of  honor ;  what  thinkest  thou 
of  being  a  man  of  renown,  and  having  a  name  like  the 
name  of  the  great  men  of  the  earth  ?  Would  any  01 
this,  all  this  suffice  thee,  and  make  thee  count  thyself 
happy  ?  If  so,  then  certainly  thou  art  carnal  and  un- 
converted. If  not,  go  farther  ;  wade  into  the  divine  ex- 
cellences, the  store  of  his  mercies,  the  hiding  of  his  pow- 
er, the  depths  unfathomable  of  his  all-sufficiency.  Doth 
this  suit  thee  best  and  please  thee  most  ?  Dost  thou 
say,  "  It  is  good  to  be  here" — "  Here  will  I  pitch,  here 
will  I  live  and  die  ?"  Wilt  thou  let  all  the  world  go  ra- 
ther than  this  1  Then  it  is  well  between  God  and  thee  : 
happy  art  thou,  O  man — happy  art  thou  that  ever  thou 
wast  born.  If  a  God  can  make  thee  happy,  thou  must 
be  happy  ;  for  thou  hast  avouched  the  Lord  to  be  thy 
God.  Dost  thou  say  to  Christ  as  he  to  us,  "  Thy  Fa- 
ther shall  be  my  Father,  and  thy  God  my  God  ?"  Here 
is  the  turning  point ;  an  unsound  professor  never  takes 
up  his  rest  in  God,  but  converting  grace  does  the  work, 
and  so  cures  the  fatal  misery  of  the  fall,  by  turning  the 
heart  from  its  idol  to  the  living  God.  Now,  says  the 
soul,  "  Lord,  whither  shall  I  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words 
of  eternal  life."  Here  he  centres,  here  he  settles.  It 
is  the  entrance  of  heaven  to  him  j  he  sees  his  interest 
in  God.  When  he  discovers  this,  he  saith,  "  Return 
unto  thy  rest,  0  my  soul,  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt  boun- 
tifully with  thee."  And  he  is  even  ready  to  breathe  out 
Simeon's  song,  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  de- 
part in  peace;"  and  saith  with  Jacob,  when  his  old  heart 
revived  at  the  welcome  tidings,  "  It  is  enough."  When 
he  sees  he  hath  a  God  in  covenant  to  go  to,  "  this  is  all 
his  salvation  and  all  his  desire." 


36  THE   NATURE   OF  CONVERSION.  |  Chap.  II. 

Is  this  thy  case  ?  hast  thou  experienced  this  ?  Why 
then,  "  blessed  art  thou  of  the  Lord ;"  God  hath  been  at 
work  with  thee ;  he  hath  laid  hold  on  thy  heart  by  the 
power  of  converting  grace,  or  else  thou  couldst  never 
have  done  this. 

God  effects  this  work  through  Christ,  the  only  Me- 
diator between  God  and  man.  1  Tim.  2  :  5.  His  work 
is  to  bring  us  to  God.  1  Pet.  3  :  18.  He  is  the  way  to 
the  Father,  John,  14  :  6,  the  only  plank  on  which  we 
may  escape,  the  only  door  by  which  we  may  enter. 
John,  10  :  9.  Conversion  brings  over  the  soul  to  Christ 
to  accept  him  as  the  only  means  of  life,  as  the  only 
way,  the  only  name  given  under  heaven.  He  looks  not 
for  salvation  in  any  other  but  him  ;  he  throws  himself 
on  Christ  alone,  as  one  that  would  cast  himself  with 
spread  arms  upon  the  sea. 

"  Here  (saith  the  convinced  sinner)  I  will  venture ; 
and  if  I  perish,  I  perish ;  if  I  die,  I  will  die  here.  But, 
Lord,  suffer  me  not  to  perish  under  the  eye  of  thy 
mercy.  Entreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  turn  away 
from  following  after  thee."  Ruth,  1  :  16.  "  Here  I  will 
throw  myself,  if  thou  kill  me."  "  I  will  not  go  from 
thy  door." 

Thus  the  poor  soul  doth  venture  on  Christ  and  re- 
solutely adhere  to  him.  Before  conversion,  the  man 
made  light  of  Christ,  minded  his  farm,  friends,  mer- 
chandise, more  than  Christ ;  now  Christ  is  to  him  as 
his  necessary  food,  his  daily  bread,  the  life  of  his  heart, 
the  staff  of  his  life.  His  great  desire  is,  that  Christ 
may  be  magnified  in  him.  His  heart  once  said,  as  they 
to  the  spouse,  "  What  is  thy  beloved  more  than  ano- 
ther?" Cant.  5:9.  He  found  more  sweetness  in  his 
merry  company,  wicked  games,  earthly  delights,  than 
m  Christ.     He  took  religion  for  a  fancy,  and  the  talk 


Chap.  II  J  THE    NATURE   OF   CONVERSION.  37 

of  great  enjoyments  for  an  idle  dream  ;  but  now  to  him 
to  live  is  Christ.  He  sets  light  by  all  that  he  accounted 
precious,  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 

All  of  Christ  is  accepted  by  the  sincere  convert :  he 
loves  not  only  the  wages  but  the  work  of  Christ ;  not 
only  the  benefits  but  the  burden  of  Christ;  he  is  will- 
ing not  only  to  tread  out  the  corn,  but  to  draw  under 
the  yoke ;  he  takes  up  the  commands  of  Christ,  yea, 
and  cross  of  Christ. 

The  unsound  closeth  by  halves  with  Christ ;  he  is  all 
for  the  salvation  of  Christ,  but  he  is  not  for  sanctifica- 
tion  ;  he  divides  the  offices  and  benefits  of  Christ.  This 
is  an  error  in  the  foundation.  Whoso  loveth  life,  let 
him  beware  here;  it  is  an  undoing  mistake,  of  which 
you  have  been  often  warned,  and  yet  none  more  com- 
mon. Jesus  is  a  sweet  name  ;  but  men  "  love  not  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  sincerity."  They  will  not  have  him  as 
God  offers,  "  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior."  They  di- 
vide what  God  has  joined,  the  king  and  the  priest:  yea, 
they  will  not  accept  the  salvation  of  Christ  as  he  in- 
tends it ;  they  divide  it  here.  Every  man's  vote  is  for 
salvation  from  suffering ;  but  they  desire  not  to  be  saved 
from  sinning ;  they  would  have  their  lives  saved,  but 
withal  would  have  their  lusts.  Yea,  many  divide  here 
again ;  they  would  be  content  to  have  some  of  their 
sins  destroyed,  but  they  cannot  leave  the  lap  of  Delilah, 
or  divorce  the  beloved  Herodias :  they  cannot  be  cruei 
to  the  right  eye  or  right  hand :  the  Lord  must  pardon 
them  in  this  thing.  O  be  carefully  scrupulous  here: 
your  souls  depend  upon  it.  The  sound  convert  takes 
a  whole  Christ,  and  takes  him  for  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, without  exceptions,  without  limitations,  without 
reserve.  He  is  willing  to  have  Christ  upon  any  terms; 
he  is  willing  to  have  the  dominion  of  Christ,  as  well  a« 
4 


38  THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.     [Chap.  II. 

deliverance  by  Christ ;  he  saith,  with  Paul,  "  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  Any  thing.  Lord. 
He  sends  the  blank  to  Christ,  to  set  down  his  own 
conditions. 

The  heart  that  was  once  set  against  the  laws,  ordi- 
nances, and  ways  of  Christ,  and  could  not  endure  the 
strictness  of  these  bonds,  the  severity  of  these  ways, 
now  falls  in  with  them,  and  chooses  them  as  its  rule 
and  guide  for  ever. 

Four  things,  I  observe,  God  doth  work  in  every 
sound  convert,  with  reference  to  the  laws  and  ways  of 
Christ;  by  which  you  may  come  to  know  your  state, 
if  you  will  be  faithful  to  your  own  souls,  and  therefore 
keep  your  eyes  upon  your  hearts  as  you  go  along. 

1.  The  judgment  is  brought  to  approve  of  them,  and 
subscribe  to  them,  as  most  righteous  and  most  reason- 
able. The  mind  is  brought  to  like  the  ways  of  God ; 
and  the  corrupt  prejudices  that  were  once  against  them, 
as  unreasonable  and  intolerable,  are  now  removed. 
The  understanding  assents  to  them  all,  as  holy,  just, 
and  good.  Rom.  7  :  12.  How  is  David  taken  up  with 
the  excellences  of  God's  laws !  how  doth  he  expatiate 
on  their  praises,  both  from  their  inherent  qualities  and 
admirable  effects !  Psalm  19  :  8,  9,  10,  &c. 

There  is  a  twofold  judgment  of  the  understanding. 
The  absolute  judgment  is,  when  a  man  thinks  such  a 
course  best  in  the  general,  but  not  for  him,  or  not  under 
his  present  circumstances.  Now,  a  godly  man's  judg- 
ment is  for  the  ways  of  God,  and  that  not  only  the  ab- 
solute, but  comparative  judgment;  he  thinks  them  not 
only  the  best  in  general,  but  best  for  him :  he  looks 
upon  the  rules  of  religion  not  only  as  tolerable,  but  de- 


Chap.   II. j  THE  7    CONVERSION.  39 

sirable;  yea.  more  desirable  than  gold,  fine  gold;  yea. 
much  fine  gold. 

His  judgment  is  fully  determined  that  it  is  best  to 
be  holy,  that  it  is  best  to  be  strict,  that  it  is  in  i 
the  most  eligible  course,  and  that  it  is  for  him  the  w 
and  most  rational  and  desirable  choice.  Hear  the  g 
man's  judgment :  "  I  know.  O  Lord,  that  thy  judg- 
ments are  right ;  I  love  thy  commandments  above  gold, 
yea.  above  fine  gold ;  I  esteem  all  thy  precepts  con- 
cerning all  things  to  be  right;  and  I  hate  every  false 
way/'  Mark,  he  approves  of  all  that  God  requires,  and 
disallows  of  all  that  he  forbids.  ••  Righteous,  O  Lord, 
and  upright  are  thy  judgments.  Thy  testimonies  that 
thou  hast  commanded  are  righteous  and  very  faithful. 
Thy  word  is  true  from  the  beginning,  and  every  one 
of  thy  righteous  judgments  endureth  for  ever."  See 
how  readily  and  fully  he  subscribes ;  he  declares  his 
t  and  consent  to  it,  and  all  and  every  thing  therein 
contained. 

2.  The  desire  of  the  heart  is  to  know  the  whole  n 
of  Christ.  He  would  not  have  one  sin  undiscov- 
nor  be  ignorant  of  one  duty  required.  It  is  the  natural 
and  earnest  breathing  of  a  sanctified  heart:  u  Lord,  if 
there  be  any  way  of  wickedness  in  me,  do  thou 
cover  it.  What  I  know  not,  teach  thou  me:  and  if  I 
have  done  iniquity,  I  will  do  it  no  more."  The  unsound 
is  willingly  ignorant,  loves  not  to  come  to  the  light. 
He  is  willing  to  keep  such  or  such  a  sin,  and  therefore 
is  loth  to  know  it  to  be  a  sin,  and  will  not  let  in  the 
light  at  that  window.  Now  the  gracious  heart  is  will- 
ing to  know  the  whole  latitude  and  compass  of  his 
Makers  law.  He  receives  with  all  acceptation  the 
word  which  convinceth  him  of  any  duty  that  he  knew 
not,  or  minded  not  before,  or  which  discovereth  any 
§in  that  lay  hid  before. 


40  THE   NATURE    OF   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  II. 

3.  The  free  and  decided  choice  of  the  will  is  for  the 
ways  of  Christ,  before  all  the  pleasures  of  sin  and  pros- 
perities of  the  world.  His  consent  is  not  extorted  by 
some  extremity  of  anguish,  nor  is  it  only  a  sudden  and 
hasty  resolve,  but  he  is  deliberately  purposed,  and 
comes  off  freely  to  the  choice.  True,  the  flesh  will 
rebel,  yet  the  prevailing  part  of  his  will  is  for  Christ's 
laws  and  government;  so  that  he  takes  them  not  up  as 
his  toil  or  burden,  but  his  bliss.  While  the  unsancti- 
ried  goes  in  Christ's  ways  as  in  chains  and  fetters,  he 
does  it  heartily,  and  counts  Christ's  laws  his  liberty. 
He  delights  in  the  beauties  of  holiness,  and  has  this  in- 
separable mark,  "  That  he  had  rather  (if  he  might  have 
his  choice)  live  a  strict  and  holy  life,  than  the  most 
prosperous  and  flourishing  mere  worldly  life."  "  There 
went  with  Saul  a  band  of  men  whose  hearts  God  had 
touched."  When  God  toucheth  the  hearts  of  his  chosen, 
they  presently  follow  Christ,  and  (though  drawn)  do 
freely  rim  after  him,  and  willingly  devote  themselves 
to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  seeking  him  with  their 
whole  desire.  Fear  hath  its  use ;  but  this  is  not  the 
main  spring  of  motion  with  a  sanctified  heart.  Christ 
keeps  not  his  subjects  by  force,  but  is  king  of  a  willing 
people.  They  are,  through  his  grace,  freely  devoted 
to  his  service  ;  they  serve  out  of  choice,  not  as  slaves, 
but  as  the  son  or  spouse,  from  a  spring  of  love  and  a 
loyal  mind.  In  a  word,  the  laws  of  Christ  are  the  con- 
vert's love,  delight,  and  continual  study. 

4.  The  bent  of  his  course  is  directed  to  keep  God's 
statutes.  It  is  the  daily  care  of  his  life  to  walk  with 
God.  He  seeks  great  things,  he  hath  noble  designs, 
though  he  fall  too  short.  He  aims  at  nothing  less  than 
perfection  :  he  desires  it,  he  reaches  after  it ;  he  would 
not  rest  in  any  degree  of  grace,  till  he  were  quite  rid 
of  sin,  and  had  perfect  holiness. 


Chap.  II.J     THE  NATURE  OF  CONVERSION.  41 

Here  the  hypocrite's  rottenness  may  be  discovered. 
He  desires  holiness  (as  one  well  said)  only  as  a  bridge 
to  heaven,  and  inquires  earnestly  what  is  the  least  that 
will  serve  his  turn;  and  if  he  can  get  but  so  much  as 
may  bring  him  to  heaven ;  this  is  all  he  cares  for.  But 
the  sound  convert  desires  holiness  for  holiness'  sake, 
and  not  merely  for  heaven's  sake.  He  would  not  be 
satisfied  with  so  much  as  might  save  him  from  hell, 
but  desires  the  highest  degree :  yet  desires  are  not 
enough.  What  is  thy  way  and  thy  course?  Is  holi- 
ness thy  pursuit,  and  religion  thy  business?  If  not, 
thou  art  short  of  sound  conversion. 

Application. — And  is  this  that  we  have  described, 
the  conversion  that  is  of  absolute  necessity  to  salva- 
tion? Then  be  informed,  That  strait  is  the  gate  and 
narrow  the  way  that  leadeth  unto  life — that  there  are 
but  few  that  find  it — that  there  is  need  of  a  divine 
power  savingly  to  convert  a  sinner  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Again,  Then  be  exhorted,  O  man,  to  turn  in  upon 
thine  own  self.  What  saith  conscience?  Doth  it  not 
begin  to  bite  ?  Doth  it  not  pierce  thee  as  thou  goest? 
Is  this  thy  judgment,  and  this  thy  choice,  and  this  thy 
way,  that  we  have  described  ?  If  so,  then  it  is  well. 
But  doth  not  thy  heart  condemn  thee,  and  tell  thee 
there  is  such  a  sin  thou  livest  in  against  thy  conscience  ? 
Doth  it  not  tell  thee  there  is  such  and  such  a  secret 
way  of  wickedness  that  thou  makest  no  account  of? 
such  or  such  a  duty  that  thou  makest  no  conscience  of? 

Doth  not  conscience  carry  thee  to  thy  closet,  and 
tell  thee  how  seldom  prayer  and  reading  are  performed 
there  ?  Doth  it  not  carry  thee  to  thy  family,  and  show 
thee  the  charge  of  God,  and  the  souls  of  thy  children 
and  servants,  that  are  neglected  there?  Doth  not  con- 
science lead  thee  to  thy  shop,  thy  trade,  and  tell  thee 
4* 


42  THE   NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  HI. 

of  some  iniquity  there?  Doth  it  not  carry  thee  to  the 
dram-shop,  or  the  resort  of  idleness,  and  blame  thee 
for  the  loose  company  thou  keepest  there,  the  precious 
time  thou  misspendest  there,  for  the  talents  which 
thou  wastest  there,  for  thy  gaming,  and  thy  drinking? 
&c.  Doth  it  not  carry  thee  into  thy  secret  chamber, 
and  read  there  thy  condemnation? 

O  conscience !  do  thy  duty :  in  the  name  of  the  liv- 
ing God,  I  command  thee,  discharge  thine  office ;  lay 
hold  upon  this  sinner,  fall  upon  him,  arrest  him,  ap- 
prehend him,  undeceive  him.  What!  wilt  thou  flatter 
and  sooth  him  while  he  lives  in  his  sins  ?  Awake,  O 
conscience!  what  meanest  thou,  O  sleeper?  What! 
hast  thou  never  a  reproof  in  thy  mouth  ?  What !  shall 
this  soul  die  in  his  careless  neglect  of  God  and  of  eter- 
nity, and  thou  altogether  hold  thy  peace?  What !  shall 
he  go  on  still  in  his  trespasses,  and  yet  have  peace? 
Oh !  rouse  up  thyself,  and  do  thy  work.  Now  let  the 
preacher  in  thy  bosom  speak :  cry  aloud,  and  spare 
not;  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet:  let  not  the  blood 
of  his  soul  be  required  at  thy  hands. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Of  the  Necessity  of  Conversion. 

It  may  be  you  are  ready  to  say,  What  meaneth  this 
stir  ?  and  are  apt  to  wonder  why  I  follow  you  with  such 
earnestness,  still  ringing  one  lesson  in  your  ears,  that 
"you  should  repent,  and  be  converted."  But  I  must 
say  to  you,  as  Ruth  to  Naomi,  "  Entreat  me  not  to  leave 
thee,  or  to  return  from  following  tutor  thee."  Were  it 


Chnp.  III.]         THE    NECESSITY    OF    CONVERSION.  43 

a  matter  of  indifference — might  you  be  saved  as  you 
are — I  would  gladly  let  you  alone:  but  would  you 
not  have  me  solicitous  for  you,  when  I  see  you  rea- 
dy to  perish?  As  the  Lord  liveth,  before  whom  I 
am,  I  have  not  the  least  hope  to  see  one  of  your  faces 
in  heaven,  except  you  be  converted.  I  utterly  despair 
of  your  salvation,  except  you  will  be  prevailed  with  to 
turn  thoroughly,  and  give  up  yourselves  to  God  in  ho- 
liness and  newness  of  life.  Hath  God  said,  "  Except 
a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God?"  John,  3  :  3;  and  yet  do  you  wonder  why  your 
ministers  so  earnestly  labor  for  you?  Think  it  not 
strange  that  I  am  earnest  with  you  to  follow  after  ho- 
liness, and  long  to  see  the  image  of  God  upon  you. 
Never  did  any,  nor  shall  any,  enter  into  heaven  by  any 
other  way  but  this.  The  conversion  described  is  not 
a  high  attainment  of  some  eminent  Christians,  but 
every  soul  that  is  saved  passeth  this  change. 

It  was  a  saying  of  the  noble  Roman,  when  he  was 
hasting  with  corn  to  the  city  in  the  famine,  and  the 
mariners  were  loth  to  set  sail  in  foul  weather,  It  is  ne- 
cessary for  us  to  sail — it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  live. 
What  is  it  that  thou  dost  count  necessary?  Is  thy 
bread  necessary?  Is  thy  breath  necessary?  Then  thy 
conversion  is  much  more  necessary.  Indeed,  this  is 
the  one  thing  necessary.  Thine  estate  is  not  necessary ; 
thou  mayest  sell  all  for  the  pearl  of  great  price,  and 
yet  be  a  gainer  by  the  purchase.  Thy  life  is  not  ne- 
cessary ;  thou  mayest  part  with  it  for  Christ,  to  infinite 
advantage.  Thy  reputation  is  not  necessary;  thou 
mayest  be  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ,  and  yet 
be  happy ;  yea,  much  more  happy  in  reproach  than  in 
repute.  But  thy  conversion  is  necessary ;  thy  salva- 
tion depends  upon  it ;  and  is  it  not  needful,  in  so  iin 


44  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  III. 

portant  a  case,  to  look  about  thee  ?    On  this  one  point 
depends  thy  making  or  marring  to  all  eternity. 

But  I  shall  more  particularly  show  the  necessity  of 
conversion  in  five  things ;  for  without  this, 

I.  Thy  being  is  in  vain.  Is  it  not  a  pity  thoushouldst 
be  good  for  nothing,  an  unprofitable  burden  of  the  earth, 
a  wart  or  wen  in  the  body  of  the  universe  ?  Thus 
thou  art,  whilst  unconverted ;  for  thou  canst  not  an- 
swer the  end  of  thy  being.  Is  it  not  for  the  divine 
pleasure  that  thou  art  and  wast  created?  Did  not 
God  make  thee  for  himself?  Art  thou  a  man,  and  hast 
thou  reason  ?  Then,  bethink  thyself  why  and  whence 
thy  being  is.  Behold  God's  workmanship  in  thy  body, 
and  ask  thyself,  to  what  end  did  God  rear  this  fabric? 
Consider  the  noble  faculties  of  thy  heaven-born  soul. 
To  what  end  did  God  bestow  these  excellencies.  To 
no  other  than  that  thou  shouldst  please  thyself,  and 
gratify  thy  senses  ?  Did  God  send  men,  like  the  swal- 
lows, into  the  world,  only  to  gather  a  few  sticks  and 
dirt,  and  build  their  nests,  and  breed  up  their  young, 
and  then  away  ?  The  very  heathens  could  see  farther 
than  this.  Art  thou  so  "fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made,"  and  dost  thou  not  yet  think  with  thyself — sure- 
ly it  was  for  some  noble  and  exalted  end? 

O  man!  set  thy  reason  a  little  to  work.  Is  it  not  a 
pity  such  a  goodly  fabric  should  be  raised  in  vain? 
Verily  thou  art  in  vain,  except  thou  art  for  God:  bet- 
ter thou  hadst  no  being,  than  not  be  for  him.  Wouldst 
thou  serve  thy  end  ?  thou  must  repent  and  be  convert- 
ed :  without  this,  thou  art  to  no  purpose;  yea,  to  bad 
purpose. 

Thou  art  to  no  purpose.    Man,  unconverted,  is  like 


Chap.  III.J  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.  45 

a  choice  instrument  that  hath  every  string  broken  or 
out  of  tune.  The  Spirit  of  the  living  God  must  repair 
and  tune  it  by  the  grace  of  regeneration,  and  sweetly 
move  it  by  the  power  of  actuating  grace,  or  else  thy 
prayers  will  be  but  bowlings,  and  all  thy  services  will 
make  no  music  in  the  ears  of  the  Most  Holy.  All  thy 
powers  and  faculties  are  so  corrupt  in  thy  natural  state, 
that,  except  thou  be  purged  from  dead  works,  thou  canst 
not  serve  the  living  God. 

An  unsanctified  man  cannot  work  the  work  of  God. 
1.  He  hath  no  skill  in  it;  he  is  altogether  as  unskilful 
in  the  work  as  in  the  word  of  righteousness.  There 
are  great  mysteries  in  the  practice  as  well  as  in  the 
principles  of  godliness.  Now  the  unregenerate  know 
not  '"the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  You 
may  as  well  expect  him  that  never  learned  the  alpha- 
bet to  read,  or  look  for  goodly  music  on  the  lute  from 
one  that  never  set  his  hand  to  an  instrument,  as  that  a 
natural  man  should  do  the  Lord  any  pleasing  service. 
He  must  first  be  taught  of  God,  taught  to  pray,  taught 
to  profit,  taught  to  go,  or  else  he  will  be  utterly  at  a 
loss.  2.  He  hath  no  strength  for  it.  How  weak  is  his 
heart!  he  is  presently  tired.  The  Sabbath,  what  a 
weariness  is  it!  He  is  without  strength,  yea,  dead  in 
sin.  3.  He  hath  no  mind  to  it;  he  desires  not  the  know- 
ledge of  God's  ways;  he  doth  not  know  them,  and  he 
doth  not  care  to  know  them ;  he  knows  not,  neither  will 
he  understand.  4.  He  hath  neither  due  instruments 
nor  materials  for  it.  A  man  may  as  well  hew  the  mar- 
ble without  tools,  or  paint  without  colors  or  instruments, 
or  build  without  materials,  as  perform  any  acceptable 
service,  without  the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  which  are 
both  the  materials  and  instruments  in  the  work.  Alms- 
giving is  not  a  service  of  God,  but  of  vain-glory,  if  not 


46  THE   NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  III. 

held  forth  by  the  hand  of  divine  love.  What  is  the 
prayer  of  the  lips  without  grace  in  the  heart,  but  the 
carcass  without  the  life?  What  are  all  our  confes- 
sions, unless  they  be  exercises  of  godly  sorrow  and 
unfeigned  repentance?  What  our  petitions,  unless  ani- 
mated with  holy  desires  and  faith  in  the  divine  attri- 
butes and  promises?  What  our  praises  and  thanks- 
givings, unless  from  the  love  of  God,  and  a  holy  grati- 
tude and  sense  of  God's  mercies  in  the  heart?  So 
that  a  man  may  as  well  expect  that  trees  should  speak, 
or  look  for  logic  from  the  brutes,  or  motion  from  the 
dead,  as  to  look  for  any  service,  holy  and  acceptable  to 
God,  from  the  unconverted.  When  the  tree  is  evil, 
how  can  the  fruit  be  good? 

Also,  without  conversion  you  live  to  bad  purpose. 
The  unconverted  soul  is  a  very  cage  of  unclean  birds, 
a  sepulchre  full  of  corruption  and  rottenness,  a  loath- 
some carcass  full  of  worms,  and  sending  forth  a  most 
noisome  savor  to  God.  O  dreadful  case!  Dost  thou 
not  yet  see  a  change  to  be  needful  ?  Would  it  not  have 
grieved  one  to  have  seen  the  golden  consecrated  ves- 
sels of  God's  temple  turned  into  quaffing  bowls  of 
drunkenness,  and  polluted  with  the  idol's  service?  Was 
it  such  an  abomination  to  the  Jews,  when  Antiochus 
set  up  the  picture  of  a  swine  at  the  entrance  of  the 
temple?  How  much  more  abominable  then  would  it 
have  been  to  have  had  the  very  temple  itself  turned 
into  a  stable  or  a  sty;  and  to  have  had  the  "holy  of 
holies"  served  like  the  house  of  Baal,  and  have  been 
turned  into  a  draught-house  !  This  is  the  very  case  d 
the  unregenerate :  all  thy  members  are  turned  into  in- 
struments of  unrighteousness,  servants  of  Satan;  and 
thy  inmost  powers  into  a  receptacle  of  uncleanness. 
You  may  see  the  guests  within, by  what  comes  out; 


Chap.  III. J  THE    NECESSITY    OF    CONVERSION.  4*7 

for,  "  out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders, 
adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  blasphe- 
mies," &c.  This  black  troop  discovers  what  a  hell 
there  is  within. 

O  abuse  insufferable !  to  see  a  heaven-born  soul  abased 
to  the  filthiest  drudgery  !  to  see  the  glory  of  God's  crea- 
tion, the  chief  of  the  works  of  God,  the  Lord  of  the 
universe,  lapping  with  a  prodigal  at  the  trough !  "Was 
it  such  a  lamentation  to  see  those  that  did  feed  delicately 
sit  desolate  in  the  streets ;  and  the  precious  sons  of 
Zion,  comparable  to  fine  gold,  esteemed  as  earthen 
pitchers ;  and  those  that  were  clothed  in  scarlet  em- 
brace dunghills  1  And  is  it  not  much  more  fearful  to 
see  the  only  thing  that  hath  immortality  in  this  lower 
world,  and  carries  the  stamp  of  God,  become  as  a  ves- 
sel wherein  is  no  pleasure,  and  be  put  to  the  most  sor- 
did use?  O  indignity  intolerable!  Better  thou  wert 
dashed  in  a  thousand  pieces,  than  continue  to  be  abased 
to  so  vile  a  service. 

II.  Not  only  man,  but  the  whole  visible  creation,  is 
in  vain  without  this.  God  hath  made  all  the  visible 
creatures  in  heaven  and  earth  for  the  service  of  man, 
and  man  only  is  the  spokesman  for  all  the  rest.  Man 
is,  in  the  universe,  like  the  tongue  to  the  body,  which 
speaks  for  all  the  members.  The  other  creatures  can- 
not praise  their  Maker,  but  by  dumb  signs  and  hints 
to  man  that  he  should  speak  for  them.  Man  is,  as  it 
were,  the  high-priest  of  God's  creation,  to  offer  the  sa- 
crifice of  praise  for  all  his  fellow  creatures.  The  Lord 
God  expecteth  a  tribute  of  praise  from  all  his  works. 
Now,  all  the  rest  do  bring  in  their  tribute  to  man,  and 
pay  it  by  his  hand.  So  then,  if  a  man  be  false,  and 
faithless,  and  selfish,  God  is  wronged  of  all,  and  has 
no  active  glory  from  his  works. 


48  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.         [Cbap.  lit 

O  dreadful  thought  to  think  of !  that  God  should 
build  such  a  world  as  this,  and  lay  out  such  infinite 
power,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness  thereupon,  and  all 
in  vain ;  and  that  man  should  be  guilty,  at  last,  of  rob- 
bing and  spoiling  him  of  the  glory  of  all !  O  think  of 
this.  While  thou  art  unconverted,  all  the  offices  of  the 
creatures  are  in  vain  to  thee  :  thy  meat  nourishes  thee 
in  vain;  the  sun  holds  forth  his  light  to  thee  in  vain ; 
the  stars  that  serve  thee  in  their  courses  by  their  pow- 
erful, though  hidden  influence,  do  it  in  vain;  thy 
clothes  warm  thee  in  vain  ;  thy  beast  carries  thee  in 
vain;  in  a  word,  the  unwearied  labors  of  the  whole 
creation  (as  to  thee)  are  in  vain.  The  service  of  all 
the  creatures  that  drudge  for  thee,  and  yield  forth  their 
strength  unto  thee,  that  therewith  thou  shouldest  serve 
their  Maker,  is  all  but  lost  labor.  Hence  the  whole 
creation  groaneth  under  the  abuse  of  men  unsanctified, 
who  pervert  all  things  to  the  service  of  their  lusts, 
quite  contrary  to  the  very  end  of  their  being,     a 

III.  Without  this,  thy  religion  is  vain ;  all  thy  re- 
ligious performances  will  be  but  lost;  for  they  can 
neither  please  God  nor  save  thy  soul,  which  are  the 
very  ends  of  religion.  Be  thy  services  ever  so  spe- 
cious, yet  God  hath  no  pleasure  in  them.  Is  not  that 
man's  case  dreadful  whose  sacrifices  are  as  murders, 
and  whose  prayers  are  a  breath  of  abomination  ?  Many, 
under  convictions,  think  they  will  set  upon  mending, 
and  that  a  few  prayers  and  alms  will  cover  all  again  ; 
but  alas,  sirs!  while  your  hearts  remain  unsanctified 
your  duties  will  not  pass.  How  punctual  was  Jehu  ! 
and  yet  all  was  rejected  because  his  heart  was  not  up- 
right. How  blameless  was  Paul !  and  yet,  being  un 
converted,  all  was  but  loss.    Men  think  they  do  much 


Chap.  III.]         THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.  49 

in  attending  God's  service,  and  are  ready  to  charge 
him  with  it,  and  set  him  down  so  much  their  debtor; 
whereas  their  persons  being  unsanctified,  their  duties 
cannot  be  accepted. 

O  soul !  do  not  think,  when  thy  sins  pursue  thee, 
that  a  little  praying  and  reforming  thy  course  will  pa- 
cify God.  Thou  must  begin  with  thine  heart.  If  that 
be  not  renewed,  thou  canst  no  more  please  God  than 
one  who,  having  unspeakably  offended  thee,  should 
bring  thee  the  most  loathsome  thing  to  pacify  thee ; 
or  having  fallen  into  the  mire,  should  think  with  his 
filthy  embraces  to  reconcile  thee. 

It  is  a  great  misery  to  labor  in  the  fire.  The  poets 
could  not  invent  a  worse  hell  for  Sisyphus  than  to  be 
ever  toiling  to  get  the  barrel  up  the  hill,  and  then  that 
it  should  presently  roll  down  again  and  renew  his  la- 
bor. God  threatens  it  as  the  greatest  of  temporal  judg- 
ments, that  they  should  build  and  not  inhabit,  plant 
and  not  gather,  and  that  their  labors  should  be  eaten 
up  by  strangers.  Is  it  so  great  a  misery  to  lose  our 
common  labors,  to  sow  in  vain,  and  to  build  in  vain? 
how  much  more  to  lose  our  pains  in  religion — to  pray, 
and  hear,  and  fast  in  vain !  This  is  an  undoing  and 
eternal  loss.  Be  not  deceived;  if  thou  goest  on  in  thy 
sinful  state,  though  thou  shouldst  spread  forth  thy 
hands,  God  will  hide  his  eyes;  though  thou  make  many 
prayers,  he  will  not  hear.  If  a  man  without  skill  set 
about  our  work,  find  spoil  it  in  the  doing,  though  he 
take  much  pains,  we  give  him  but  small  thauks.  God 
will  be  worshipped  after  the  due  order.  If  a  servant 
do  our  work,  but  quite  contrary  to  our  order,  he  shall 
have  rather  stripes  than  praise.  God's  work  must  be 
done  according  to  God's  mind,  or  he  will  not  be  pleased : 
and  this  cannot  be,  except  it  be  done  with  a  holy  heart. 


50  THE   NECESSITY    OP   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  III. 

IV.  Without  this,  thy  hopes  are  in  vain.  "  The  Lord 
hath  rejected  thy  confidences." 

1.  The  hope  of  comfort  here  is  in  vain.  It  is  not 
only  necessary  to  the  safety,  but  comfort,  of  your  con- 
dition, that  you  be  converted.  Without  this,  you  "  shall 
not  know  peace."  Without  the  "  fear  of  God "  you 
cannot  have  the  "  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  God 
speaks  peace  only  to  his  people  and  to  his  saints.  If 
you  have  a  false  peace,  continuing  in  your  sins,  it  is 
not  of  God's  speaking,  and  then  you  may  guess  the 
author.  Sin  is  a  real  sickness,  yea,  the  worst  of  sick- 
ness ;  it  is  a  leprosy  in  the  head,  the  plague  of  the  heart ; 
it  is  rottenness  in  the  bones;  it  pierceth,  it  woundeth,  it 
racketh,  it  tormenteth.  A  man  may  as  well  expect 
ease  when  his  distempers  are  in  their  fell  strength,  or 
his  bones  out  of  joint,  as  true  comfort  while  in  his  sins. 

O  wretched  man,  that  canst  have  no  ease  in  this 
case  but  what  comes  from  the  deadliness  of  the  dis- 
ease !  You  shall  hear  the  poor  sick  man  saying,  in 
his  wildness,  he  is  well,  when  you  see  death  in  his 
face ;  he  would  be  up  and  about  his  business,  when  the 
very  next  step  is  likely  to  be  to  his  grave.  The  un- 
sanctified  often  see  nothing  amiss ;  they  think  them- 
selves whole,  and  cry  not  for  the  physician;  but  this 
only  shows  the  danger  of  their  case. 

Sin  doth  naturally  breed  distempers  and  disturbances 
in  the  soul.  What  a  continual  tempest  is  there  in  a  dis- 
contented mind !  what  a  corroding  evil  is  inordinate 
care  !  what  is  passion  but  a  very  fever  in  the  mind? 
what  is  lust  but  a  fire  in  the  bones  ?  what  is  pride  but 
a  deadly  dropsy?  or  covetousness,  but  an  insatiable 
and  insufferable  thirst?  or  malice  and  envy,  but  venom 
in  the  very  heart?    Spiritual  sloth  is  but  a  scurvy  in 


Chap.  III.]         THE    NECESSITY    OF    CONVERSION.  51 

the  mind,  and  carnal  security  a  mortal  lethargy ;  and 
how  can  that  soul  have  true  comfort  which  is  under 
so  many  diseases  ?  But  converting  grace  cures,  and 
so  eases  the  mind,  and  prepares  the  soul  for  a  settled, 
standing,  immortal  peace.  "  Great  peace  have  they 
that  love  thy  law,  and  nothing  shall  offend  them." 
They  are  the  ways  of  wisdom  that  afford  pleasure  and 
peace.  David  had  infinitely  more  pleasure  in  the  word 
than  in  all  the  delights  of  his  court.  The  conscience 
cannot  be  truly  pacified  till  soundly  purified.  Cursed 
is  that  peace  which  is  maintained  in  a  way  of  sin. 
Two  sorts  of  peace  are  more  to  be  dreaded  than  all  the 
troubles  in  the  world;  peace  with  sin,  and  peace  in  sin. 
2.  Thy  hopes  of  salvation  hereafter  are  in  vain;  yea, 
worse  than  in  vain;  they  are  most  injurious  to  God, 
most  pernicious  to  thyself.  There  is  death,  despera- 
tion and  blasphemy  in  this  hope.  1.  There  is  death 
in  it.  Thy  confidence  shall  be  rooted  out  of  thy  taber- 
nacles, (God  will  up  with  it  root  and  branch  ;)  it  shall 
bring  thee  to  the  king  of  terrors.  Though  thou  mayest 
lean  upon  this  house,  it  will  not  stand,  but  will  prove 
like  a  ruinous  building,  which,  when  a  man  trusts  to 
it,  falls  down  about  him.  2.  There  is  desperation  in  it : 
"  Where  is  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite  when  God  takes 
away  his  soul?"  Then  there  is  an  end  for  ever  of  his 
hope.  Indeed,  the  hope  of  the  righteous  hath  an  end  ; 
but  it  is  not  a  destructive,  but  a  perfective  end  ;  his 
hope  ends  in  fruition,  others  in  frustration.  The  godly 
may  say  at  death,  "  It  is  finished ;"  but  the  wicked,  "  It 
is  perished,"  and  in  too  sad  earnest  bemoan  himself,  as 
Job,  in  a  mistake,  "  Where  is  now  my  hope  ?  He  hath 
destroyed  me;  lam  gone,  and  my  hope  is  removed 
like  a  tree."  "  The  righteous  hath  hope  in  his  death." 
When  nature  is  dying,  his  hopes  are  living ;  when  his 


52  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.       [Chap.  111. 

body  is  languishing,  his  hopes  are  flourishing;  his  hope 
is  a  living  hope,  but  others'  a  dying,  a  damning,  soul- 
undoing  hope:  "  When  a  wicked  man  dieth,  his  expec- 
tation shall  perish  ;  and  the  hope  of  unjust  men  pe- 
risheth."  It  shall  be  cut  off  and  prove  like  a  "  spider's 
web,"  which  he  spins  out  of  his  own  bowels ;  but  then 
comes  death  and  destroys  al 
nal  end  of  his  confidence  wh< 
eyes  of  the  wicked  shall  fail,  and  their  hope  shall  be  as 
the  giving  up  of  the  ghost." 

Wicked  men  are  fixed  in  their  carnal  hope,  and  will 
not  be  beaten  out  of  it;  they  hold  it  fast ;  they  will  not 
let  it  go:  yea,  but  death  will  knock  off  their  fingers. 
Though  we  cannot  undeceive  them,  death  and  judg- 
ment will.  When  death  strikes  his  dart  through  thy 
liver,  it  will  ruin  thy  soul  and  thy  hopes  together. 
The  unsanctified  have  hope  only  in  this  life,  and  there- 
fore are  "of  all  men  most  miserable."  WThen  death 
comes,  it  lets  them  out  into  the  amazing  gulf  of  end- 
less desperation.  3.  There  is  blasphemy  in  it.  To 
hope  we  shall  be  saved,  though  continuing  unconvert- 
ed, is  to  hope  that  we  shall  prove  God  a  liar.  He  hath 
told  you,  that  so  merciful  and  pitiful  as  he  is,  he  will 
never  save  you  notwithstanding,  if  you  go  on  in  igno- 
rance, or  a  course  of  unrighteousness.  In  a  word,  he 
has  told  you  that,  whatever  you  be  or  do,  nothing  shall 
avail  you  to  salvation  unless  you  become  new  crea- 
tures. Now,  to  say  God  is  merciful,  and  we  hope  that 
he  will  save  us,  is  in  effect  to  say,  "  We  hope  that  God 
will  not  do  as  he  says."  We  must  not  set  God's  attri- 
butes at  variance;  God  has  resolved  to  glorify  his 
mercy,  but  not  to  the  prejudice  of  his  truth,  as  the  pre- 
sumptuous sinner  will  find  to  his  everlasting  sorrow. 

Object.  But  we  hope  in  Jesus  Christ;  we  put  our 


Chap.  III.]         THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.  53 

whole  trust  in  God ;  and  therefore  doubt  not  but  we 
shall  be  saved. 

Ans.  1.  This  is  not  to  hope  in  Christ,  but  against 
Christ.  To  hope  to  see  the  kingdom  of  God  without 
being  born  again:  to  hope  to  find  eternal  life  in  the 
broad  way,  is  to  hope  Christ  will  prove  a  false  prophet. 
David's  plea  is,  "  I  hope  in  thy  word."  But  this  hope 
is  against  God's  word.  Show  me  a  word  of  Christ  for 
thy  hope  that  he  will  save  thee  in  thine  ignorance  or 
profane  neglect  of  his  service,  and  I  will  never  try  to 
shake  thy  confidence. 

2.  God  doth  with  abhorrence  reject  this  hope.  Those 
condemned  in  the  prophet,  went  on  in  their  sins,  yet 
(saith  the  text)  they  will  lean  upon  the  Lord.  Micah, 
3:11.  God  will  not  endure  to  be  made  a  prop  to  men 
in  their  sins.  The  Lord  rejected  tho:-e  presumptuous 
sinners  that  went  on  still  in  their  trespasses  and  yet 
would  stay  themselves  upon  Israel's  God,  as  a  man 
would  shake  off  the  briers  that  cleave  to  his  garment. 

3.  If  thy  hope  be  any  thing  worth,  it  will  purify  thee 
from  thy  sins ;  but  cursed  is  that  hope  which  cherishes 
men  in  their  sins. 

Oliject.    Would  you  have  us  to  despair  ? 

Ans.  You  must  despair  of  ever  coming  to  heaven 
as  you  are,  that  is,  while  you  remain  unconverted. 
You  must  despair  of  ever  seeing  the  face  of  God  with- 
out holiness;  but  you  must  by  no  means  despair  of 
finding  mercy  upon  your  thorough  repentance  and  con- 
version ;  neither  may  you  despair  of  attaining  to  re- 
pentance and  conversion,  if  you  set  about  the  work 
immediately 

V.  Without  this,  all  that  Christ  hath  done  and  suf- 
fered will  be  (as  to  you)  in  vain ;  that  is,  it  will  no 
5* 


54  THE   NECESSITY   OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  III. 

way  avail  you  to  salvation.  Many  urge  this  as  a  suffi- 
cient ground  for  their  hopes,  that  Christ  died  for  sin- 
ners; but  I  must  tell  you,  Christ  never  died  to  save 
impenitent  and  unconverted  sinners,  (so  continuing.) 
A  great  divine  was  wont,  in  his  private  dealings  with 
souls,  to  ask  two  questions  :  1.  What  hath  Christ  done 
for  you  ?  2.  What  hath  Christ  wrought  in  you  1  With- 
out the  application  of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration,  we 
can  have  no  saving  interest  in  the  benefits  of  redemp- 
tion. 

I  tell  you  from  the  Lord,  that  Christ  himself  cannot 
save  you  if  you  go  on  in  this  state. 

First.  It  were  against  his  trust.  The  Mediator  is 
the  servant  of  the  Father,  shows  his  commission  from 
him,  acts  in  his  name,  and  pleads  his  command  for  his 
justification ;  and  God  has  committed  all  things  to  him, 
entrusted  his  own  glory  and  the  salvation  of  the  elect 
with  him.  Accordingly  Christ  gives  his  Father  an  ac- 
count of  both  parts  of  his  trust  before  he  leaves  the 
world.  Now  Christ  would  quite  cross  his  Father's  glo- 
ry and  his  greatest  trust,  if  he  should  save  men  in  their 
sins;  for  this  were  to  overturn  all  his  counsels,  and  to 
offer  violence  to  all  his  attributes. 

1.  To  overturn  all  his  counsels;  of  which  this  is  the 
order,  that  men  should  be  brought  through  sanctifica- 
tion  to  salvation.  He  hath  chosen  them,  that  they 
should  be  holy.  They  are  elected  to  pardon  and  life 
through  sanctification.  If  thou  canst  repeal  the  law 
of  God's  immutable  counsel,  or  corrupt  him  whom  the 
Father  hath  sealed,  to  go  directly  against  his  commis- 
sion, then,  and  not  otherwise,  mayst  thou  get  to  hea- 
ven in  this  condition.  To  hope  that  Christ  will  save 
thee  while  unconverted,  is  to  hope  that  Christ  will  fal- 
sify his  trust.    He  never  did,  nor  ever  will  save  one 


Chap.  III.]         THE    NECESSITY    OF    CONVERSION.  55 

soul  but  whom  the  Father  hath  given  him  in  election, 
and  drawn  to  him  in  effectual  calling.  Be  assured, 
Christ  will  save  none  in  a  way  contrary  to  his  Fa- 
ther's will. 

2.  To  offer  violence  to  all  his  attributes. 

(1.)  To  his  justice;  for  the  righteousness  of  God's 
judgment  lies  in  rendering  to  all  according  to  their 
works.  Now,  should  men  sow  to  the  flesh,  and  yet  of 
the  Spirit  reap  everlasting  life,  where  were  the  glory 
of  divine  justice,  since  it  should  be  given  to  the  wicked 
according  to  the  work  of  the  righteous  ? 

(2.)  To  his  holiness.  If  God  should  not  only  save 
sinners,  but  save  them  in  their  sins,  his  most  pure  and 
strict  holiness  would  be  exceedingly  defaced.  The  un- 
sanctified  are,  in  the  eyes  of  God's  holiness,  exceed- 
ingly vile  and  hateful.  It  would  be  offering  the  ex- 
tremest  violence  to  the  infinite  purity  of  the  divine  na- 
ture to  have  such  to  dwell  with  him.  "  They  cannot 
stand  in  his  judgment:  they  cannot  abide  his  presence." 
If  holy  David  would  not  endure  such  in  his  house,  no, 
nor  in  his  sight,  can  we  think  God  will?  Should  he 
take  men  as  they  are,  from  the  mire  of  their  filthiness 
to  the  glory  of  heaven,  the  world  would  think  that 
God  was  at  no  such  great  distance  from  sin,  nor  had 
any  such  dislike  to  it  as  we  are  told  he  hath ;  they 
would  be  ready  to  conclude  that  God  was  altogether 
such  a  one  as  themselves,  as  some  of  old  wickedly  did, 
from  the  very  forbearance  of  God. 

(3.)  To  his  veracity.  For  God  hath  declared  from 
heaven,  that  "if  any  shall  say  he  shall  have  peace, 
though  he  should  go  on  in  the  imagination  of  his  heart, 
his  wrath  shall  smoke  against  that  man."  That  "  they 
(only)  that  confess  and  forsake  their  sins  shall  find 
mercy."    That  "  thev  that  shall  enter  into  his  hill  must 


56  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  III. 

be  of  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart."  Where  were 
God's  truth,  if,  notwithstanding  all  this,  he  should  bring 
men  to,  salvation  without  conversion?  O  desperate 
sinner,  that  darest  to  hope  that  Christ  will  put  the  lie 
upon  his  Father,  and  nullify  his  word  to  save  thee ! 

(4.)  To  his  wisdom.  For  this  were  to  throw  away 
the  choicest  of  mercies  on  them  that  would  not  value 
them,  nor  were  any  way  suited  to  them. 

They  would  not  value  them.  The  unsanctified  sin- 
ner puts  but  little  price  upon  God's  great  salvation. 
He  sets  no  more  by  Christ  than  the  whole  by  the  phy- 
sician. He  prizes  not  his  balm,  values  not  his  cure, 
but  tramples  upon  his  blood.  Now,  would  it  stand 
with  wisdom  to  force  pardon  and  life  upon  those  that 
would  return  no  thanks  ?  Will  the  all-wise  God  (when 
he  hath  forbidden  us  to  do  it)  throw  his  holy  things  to 
dogs,  and  his  pearls  to  swine,  that  would,  as  it  were, 
but  turn  again  and  rend  him  ?  This  would  make  mer- 
cy to  be  despised  indeed.  Wisdom  requires  that  life 
be  given  in  a  way  suitable  to  God's  honor,  and  that 
God  provide  for  the  securing  of  his  own  glory  as  well 
as  man's  felicity.  It  would  be  dishonorable  to  God  to 
bestow  his  choicest  riches  on  them  that  have  more 
pleasure  in  their  lusts  than  in  heavenly  delights.  God 
would  lose  the  praise  and  glory  of  his  grace,  if  he 
should  cast  it  away  upon  them  that  were  not  only  un- 
worthy, but  unwilling. 

Also,  the  mercies  of  God  are  no  way  suited  to  the 
unconverted.  The  divine  wisdom  is  seen  in  suiting 
things  to  each  other,  the  means  to  the  end,  the  object 
to  the  faculty,  the  quality  of  the  gift  to  the  capacity  of 
the  receiver.  Now,  if  Christ  should  bring  the  unre- 
generate  sinner  to  heaven,  he  could  take  no  more  feli- 
city there  than  a  beast  if  3^011  should  bring  him  into  a 


Chap.  III.]         THE   NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.  57 

beautiful  room,  to  the  society  of  learned  men;  where- 
as the  poor  thing  had  much  rather  be  grazing  with  his 
fellow-brutes.  Alas!  what  could  an  unsanctified  crea- 
ture do  in  heaven?  he  could  not  be  contented  there, 
because  nothing  suits  him.  The  place  doth  not  suit  him ; 
he  would  be  quite  out  of  his  element,  a  fish  out  of  water. 
The  company  doth  not  suit  him :  what  communion 
hath  darkness  with  light?  corruption  with  perfection? 
filth  and  rottenness  with  glory  and  immortality  ?  The 
employment  doth  not  suit  him ;  the  anthems  of  heaven 
fit  not  his  mouth,  suit  not  his  ear.  Canst  thou  charm 
thy  beast  with  music?  or  wilt  thou  bring  him  to  thy 
organ  and  expect  that  he  should  make  thee  melody, 
or  keep  time  with  the  tuneful  choir?  or,  had  he  skill, 
he  would  have  no  will,  and  so  could  find  no  pleasure 
in  it.  Spread  thy  table  with  delicacies  before  a  lan- 
guishing patient,  and  it  will  be  a  very  great  offence. 
Alas!  if  the  poor  man  say  of  a  Sabbath-day,  "  What  a 
weariness  is  it!"  how  miserable  would  he  think  it  to 
be  engaged  in  an  everlasting  Sabbath  ? 

5.  To  his  immutability,  or  else  to  his  omniscience  or 
omnipotence ;  for  this  is  enacted  in  the  conclave  of 
heaven,  and  enrolled  in  the  decrees  of  the  court  above, 
that  none  but  the  "pure  in  heart  shall  ever  see  God;" 
this  is  laid  up  with  him,  and  sealed  among  his  trea- 
sures. Now,  if  Christ  yet  bring  any  to  heaven  uncon- 
verted, either  he  must  get  them  in  without  his  Father's 
knowledge,  and  then  where  is  his  omniscience?  or 
against  his  will,  and  then  where  were  his  omnipotence? 
or  he  must  change  his  will,  and  then  where  were  his 
immutability? 

Sinner,  wilt  thou  not  give  up  thy  vain  hope  of  being 
saved  in  this  condition?  Saith  Bildad,  "Shall  the 
earth  be  forsaken  for  thee?  or  the  rocks  be  moved  out 


58  THE   NECESSITY    OP   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  HI. 

of  their  place  ?"  May  I  not  much  more  reason  so  with 
thee?  Shall  the  laws  of  heaven  be  reversed  for  thee? 
Shall  the  everlasting  foundations  be  overturned  for 
thee?  Shall  Christ  put  out  the  eye  of  his  Father's 
omniscience,  or  shorten  the  arm  of  his  eternal  power 
for  thee?  Shall  divine  justice  be  violated  for  thee?  or 
the  brightness  of  his  holiness  be  blemished  for  thee? 
O  the  impossibility,  absurdity,  blasphemy,  that  are  in 
such  a  confidence!  To  think  Christ  will  ever  save 
thee  in  this  condition,  is  to  make  the  Savior  become  a 
sinner,  and  do  more  wrong  to  infinite  Majesty  than  all 
the  wicked  on  earth  or  devils  in  hell  ever  did,  or  ever 
could  do ;  and  yet  wilt  thou  not  give  up  such  a  blas- 
phemous hope? 

Second.    Against  his  word. 

We  need  not  say,  "Who  shaU  ascend  into  heaven, 
to  bring  down  Christ  from  above?  Or,  who  shall  de- 
scend into  the  deep,  to  bring  up  Christ  from  beneath? 
The  word  is  nigh  us."  Are  you  agreed  that  Christ 
shall  end  the  controversy  ?  Hear  then  his  own  words : 
"Except  ye  be  converted,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  in- 
to the  kingdom  of  heaven."  "  You  must  be  born  again." 
"If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  in  me."  "Re- 
pent or  perish."  One  word,  one  would  think,  were 
enough  from  Christ ;  but  how  often  and  earnestly  doth 
he  reiterate  it !  "Verily,  verily,  except  a  man  be  born 
again,  he  shall  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Yea,  he 
doth  not  only  assert  but  prove  the  necessity  of  the 
new  birth,  namely,  from  the  fleshliness  and  sinfulness 
of  man  from  his  first  birth,  by  reason  of  which  man  is 
no  more  fit  for  heaven  than  the  beast  is  for  the  chamber 
of  the  king's  presence.  And  wilt  thou  yet  believe  thy 
own  presumptuous  confidence,  directly  against  Christ's 
words  ?  He  must  go  quite  against  the  law  of  his  king- 
dom, rule  of  his  judgment,  to  save  thee  in  this  state. 


Chap.  III.]         THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.  59 

Third.    Against  his  oath. 

He  hath  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  he  hath  sworn 
that  those  who  remain  in  unbelief  and  know  not  his 
ways  (that  is,  are  ignorant  of  them,  or  disobedient  to 
them,)  shall  not  enter  into  his  rest.  And  wilt  thou 
not  yet  believe,  O  sinner,  that  he  is  in  earnest?  Canst 
thou  hope  he  will  be  forsworn  for  thee  ?  The  covenant 
of  grace  is  confirmed  by  an  oath  and  sealed  by  blood; 
but  all  must  be  made  void,  and  another  way  to  heaven 
found  out,  if  thou  be  saved,  living  and  dying  unsancti- 
fled.  God  is  come  to  his  last  terms  with  man,  and  has 
condescended  as  far  as  in  honor  he  could.  Men  can- 
not be  saved  while  unconverted,  except  they  could  get 
another  covenant  made,  and  the  whole  frame  of  the 
Gospel  (which  was  established  for  ever  with  such  dread- 
ful solemnities)  quite  altered.  And  must  not  they  be 
distracted,  to  hope  that  they  shall? 

Fourth.    Against  his  honor. 

God  will  so  show  his  love  to  the  sinner,  as  withal  to 
show  his  hatred  to  sin  ;  therefore  "he  that  names  the 
name  of  Jesus  must  depart  from  iniquity  and  deny  all 
ungodliness;  and  he  that  hath  hope  of  life  by  Christ 
must  "purify  himself  as  he  is  pure,"  otherwise  Christ 
would  be  thought  a  favorer  of  sin.  The  Lord  Jesus 
would  have  all  the  world  to  know,  that  though  he  par- 
dons sin,  he  will  not  protect  it.  If  holy  David  say, 
"Depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity,"  Psa. 
6 : 8,  and  shut  the  doors  against  them,  Psa.  101 : 7,  shall 
not  such  more  expect  it  from  Christ's  holiness? 

Fifth.    Against  his  offices. 

"God  hath  exalted  him  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior." 
He  would  act  against  both,  should  he  save  men  in  their 
sins.  It  is  the  office  of  a  king  to  be  "a  terror  to  evil 
doers,  and  a  praise  to  them  that  do  well."     "He  is  a 


60  THE   NECESSITY   OF  CONVERSION.         [Chap.  III. 

minister  of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath  on  him 
that  doth  evil."  Now,  should  Christ  favor  the  ungodly, 
(so  continuing,)  and  take  those  to  reign  with  him  that 
would  not  that  he  should  reign  over  them,  this  would 
be  quite  against  his  office;  he  therefore  reigns  that  he 
may  "put  his  enemies  under  his  feet."  Now,  should 
he  lay  them  in  his  bosom,  he  would  cross  the  end  of 
his  regal  power ;  it  belongs  to  Christ,  as  a  King,  to  sub- 
due the  hearts  and  slay  the  lusts  of  his  chosen.  What 
king  would  take  rebels  in  open  hostility  into  his  court? 
What  were  this  but  to  betray  life,  kingdom,  govern- 
ment, and  all  together?  If  Christ  be  a  King,  he  must 
have  honor,  homage,  subjection.  Now,  to  save  men 
while  in  their  natural  enmity,  were  to  obscure  his  dig- 
nity, lose  his  authority,  bring  contempt  on  his  govern- 
ment, and  sell  his  dear-bought  rights  for  naught. 

Again,  as  Christ  would  not  be  a  Prince,  so  neither  a 
Savior,  if  he  should  do  this :  for  his  salvation  is  spiri- 
tual. He  is  called  Jesus,  because  he  saves  his  people 
from  their  sins.  Matt.  1  :  21.  So  that,  should  he  save 
them  in  their  sins,  he  would  be  neither  Lord  nor  Jesus. 
To  save  men  from  the  punishment,  and  not  from  the 
power  of  sin,  were  to  do  his  work  by  halves,  and  be  an 
imperfect  Savior.  His  office  as  the  Deliverer,  is  "  to 
turn  away  ungodliness  from  Jacob."  "  He  is  sent  to 
bless  men,  in  turning  them  from  their  iniquities."  "  To 
make  an  end  of  sin."  So  that  he  would  destroy  his 
own  designs,  and  nullify  his  offices,  to  save  men  abid- 
ing in  their  unconverted  state. 

Application. — Arise  then  !  Wrhat  meanest  thou,  O 
sleeper?  Awake,  O  secure  sinner!  lest  thou  be  con- 
sumed in  thine  iniquities  :  say,  as  the  lepers,  "  If  we 
sit  here,  we  shall  die."  Verily,  it  is  not  more  certain 
that  thou  art  nowo.it  of  hell,  than  that  thou  shai: 


Chap.  III. J  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION  G& 

speedily  be  in  it,  except  thou  repent  and  be  converted  : 
there  is  but  this  one  door  for  thee  to  escape  by.  Arise 
then,  O  sluggard,  and  shake  off  thine  excuses :  how 
long  wilt  thou  slumber,  and  fold  thy  hands  to  sleep  1 
Wilt  thou  lie  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  or  sleep  on 
the  top  of  a  mast?  There  is  no  remedy,  but  thou  must 
either  turn  or  burn.  There  is  an  unchangeable  neces- 
sity of  the  change  of  thy  condition,  except  thou  hast 
resolved  to  abide  the  worst  of  it,  and  try  it  out  with  the 
Almighty.  If  thou  lovest  thy  life,  O  man,  arise  and 
coroe  away.  Methinks  I  see  the  Lord  Jesus  laying 
the  merciful  hands  of  a  holy  violence  upon  thee  ;  me- 
thinks he  acts  like  the  angels  to  Lot :  "  Then  the  an- 
gels hastened  Lot,  saying,  Arise,  lest  thou  be  consumed. 
And,  while  he  lingered,  the  men  laid  hold  upon  his 
hand,  the  Lord  being  merciful  unto  him ;  and  they 
brought  him  without  the  city,  and  said,  Escape  for  thy 
life,  stay  not  in  all  the  plain ;  escape  to  the  mountains, 
lest  thou  be  consumed." 

O  how  wilful  will  thy  destruction  be  if  thou 
shouldst  yet  harden  thyself  in  thy  sinful  state !  But 
none  of  you  can  say  that  you  have  not  had  fair  warn- 
ing. Yet  methinks  I  cannot  tell  how  to  leave  you  so, 
It  is  not  enough  for  me  to  have  delivered  my  own  soul. 
What!  shall  I  go  away  without  my  errand?  Will 
none  of  you  arise  and  follow  me  ?  Have  I  been  all  this 
while  speaking  to  the  wind?  have  I  been  charming 
the  deaf  adder,  or  allaying  the  restless  ocean  with  ar- 
gument? Do  I  speak  to  the  trees  or  rocks,  or  to  men  ? 
to  the  tombs  or  monuments  of  the  dead,  or  to  a  living 
auditory?  If  you  be  men,  and  not  senseless  stocks, 
stand  still  and  consider  whither  you  are  going ;  if  you 
have  the  reason  and  understanding  of  men,  dare  not  to 
run  into  the  flames,  and  fall  into  hell  with  your  eyes 
6 


62  THE    NECESSITY    OF   CONVERSION.         [Chap.  111. 

open;  but  bethink  yourselves,  and  set  to  the  work  of 
repentance.  What !  men,  and  yet  run  into  the  pit, 
when  the  very  beasts  will  not  be  forced  in !  What !  en- 
dowed with  reason,  and  yet  trifle  with  death  and  hell, 
and  the  vengeance  of  the  Almighty !  Are  men  herein 
only  distinguished  from  very  brutes,  that  these,  having 
no  foresight,  have  no  care  to  provide  for  the  things  to 
come;  and  will  you,  who  are  warned,  not  hasten  your 
escape  from  eternal  torments?  O  show  yourselves 
men,  and  let  reason  prevail  with  you. 

Is  it  a  reasonable  thing  for  you  to  contend  against 
the  Lord  your  Maker?  or  "to  harden  yourselves 
against  his  word,"  Job,  9  :  4,  as  though  the  Strength 
of  Israel  would  lie?  Is  it  reasonable  that  an  under- 
standing creature  should  lose,  yea,  live  quite  against, 
the  very  end  of  his  being,  and  be  as  a  broken  pitcher, 
only  fit  for  the  dunghill  ?  Is  it  reasonable  that  the  only 
thing  in  this  world  that  God  hath  made  capable  of 
knowing  his!  will  and  bringing  him  glory,  should  yet 
live  in  ignor  ince  of  his  Maker,  and  be  unserviceable  to 
his  use,  yea,  mould  be  engaged  against  him,  and  resist 
his  Creator?  ''Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth," 
and  let  the  creatures  without  sense  judge  if  this  be  rea- 
son, that  man,  whom  God  hath  "  nourished  and  brought 
up,  should  rebel  against  him?"  Judge  in  your  own 
selves.  Is  it  a  reasonable  undertaking  for  briers  and 
thorns  to  set  themselves  in  battle  against  the  devouring 
fire  ?  or  for  the  potsherd  of  the  earth  to  strive  with  its 
Maker?  You  will  say,  "  This  is  not  reason  ;"  or  sure- 
ly the  eye  of  reason  is  quite  put  out.  And,  if  this  be 
not  reason,  then  there  is  no  reason  that  you  should 
continue  as  you  are,  but  there  is  all  the  reason  in  the 
world  that  you  should  forthwith  turn  and  repent." 

What  shall  I  say  ?    I  could  spend  myself  in  this  ar- 


Chap.  IV.J        THE    MARK3    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.  63 

gument.  O  that  you  would  but  hearken  to  me !  that 
you  would  now  set  upon  a  new  course  !  Will  you  not 
be  made  clean?  When  shall  it  once  be?  Wilt  thou 
sit  down  and  consider  the  forementioned  argument, 
and  debate  it,  whether  it  be  not  best  to  turn  ?  Come, 
and  let  us  reason  together ;  is  it  good  for  thee  to  be 
bere  ?  Wilt  thou  sit  till  the  tide  come  in  upon  thee  ? 
[5  it  good  for  thee  to  try  whether  God  will  be  as  good  as 
his  word,  and  to  harden  thyself  in  a  conceit  that  all  is 
well  with  thee  while  thou  remainest  unsanctified  ? 

Alas  !  for  such  sinners;  must  they  perish  at  last  by 
hundreds?  What  course  shall  1  use  with  them  that 
I  have  not  tried?  "  What  shall  I  do  *or  the  daughter 
of  my  people?"  O  Lord  God,  help.  Alas!  shall  I 
leave  them  thus?  If  they  will  not  hear  me,  yet  do 
thou  hear  me.  O  that  they  may  yet  live  in  thy  sight ! 
Lord,  save  them,  or  else  they  perish.  My  heart  would 
melt  to  see  their  houses  on  fire  about  their  ears  when 
they  were  fast  asleep  in  their  beds;  and  shall  not  my 
soul  be  moved  within  me  to  see  them  falling  into  end- 
less perdition  ?  Lord,  have  compassion,  and  save  them 
out  of  the  burning :  put  forth  thy  divine  power,  and 
the  work  will  be  done;  but,  as  for  me,  I  cannot  prevail. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Showing  the  Marks  of  the  Unconverted. 

While  we  keep  aloof  in  generals  there  is  little  fruit 
to  be  expected  it  is  the  hand-fight  that  does  execution. 
David  is  not  awakened  by  the  prophet's  hovering  at  a 
distance  in  parabolical  insinuations ;  he  is  forced  to 
close  with  him,  and  tell  him  plainly,  "  Thou  art  the 


64      THE  MARKS  OF  THE  UNCONVERTED.   [Chap.  IV. 

man,"  Few  will,  in  words,  deny  the  necessity  of  the 
new  birth ;  but  they  have  a  self-deluding  confidence 
that  the  work  is  not  now  to  do.  And  because  they 
know  themselves  free  from  that  gross  hypocrisy  which 
takes  up  religion  merely  for  a  color  to  deceive  others, 
and  for  covering  wicked  designs,  they  are  confident  of 
their  sincerity,  and  suspect  not  that  more  close  hypo- 
crisy (wherein  the  greatest  danger  lies)  by  which  a 
man  deceiveth  his  own  soul.  But  man's  deceitful 
heart  is  such  a  matchless  cheat,  and  self-delusion  so 
reigning  and  so  fatal  a  disease,  that  I  know  not  whe- 
ther be  the  greater,  the  difficulty  or  the  necessity  of 
the  undeceiving  work  that  I  am  now  upon.  Alas  for 
the  unconverted !  they  must  be  undeceived,  or  they 
will  be  undone.     But  how  shall  this  be  effected? 

Help,  O  all-searching  Light,  and  let  thy  discerning 
eye  discover  the  rotten  foundation  of  the  self-deceiver; 
and  lead  me,  O  Lord  God,  as  thou  didst  the  prophet, 
into  the  chambers  of  imagery,  and  dig  through  the  wall 
of  sinners'  hearts,  and  discover  the  hidden  abomina- 
tions that  are  lurking  out  of  sight  in  the  dark.  O  send 
thy  angel  before  me  to  open  the  sundry  wards  of  their 
hearts,  as  thou  didst  before  Peter,  and  make  even  the 
iron  gates  to  fly  open  of  their  own  accord.  And  as 
Jonathan  no  sooner  tasted  the  honey  but  his  eyes  were 
enlightened,  so  grant,  O  Lord,  that  when  the  poor  de- 
ceived souls  with  whom  I  have  to  do  shall  cast  their 
eyes  upon  these  lines,  their  minds  may  be  illuminated, 
and  their  consciences  convinced  and  awakened,  that 
they  may  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  be  converted,  and  thou  mayest  heal  them. 

This  must  be  premised  before  we  proceed  to  the  dis- 
covery, that  it  is  most  certain  men  may  have  a  confi- 
dent persuasion  that  their  hearts  and  states  are  good, 


Chap.  IV.J      THE    MARKS    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.  65 

and  yet  be  unsound.  Hear  the  Truth  himself,  who 
shows,  in  Laodicea's  case,  that  men  may  be  wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked,  and  yet 
not  know  it:  yea,  they  may  be  confident  they  are  rich, 
and  increased  in  grace.  Rev.  3  :  17.  "  There  is  a  gene- 
ration that  are  pure  in  their  own  eyes,  and  yet  not 
washed  from  their  filthiness."  Prov.  30  :  12.  Who  bet- 
ter persuaded  of  his  state  than  Paul,  while  he  yet  re- 
mained unconverted  ?  Rom.  7:9.  So  that  they  are  mi- 
serably deceived  who  take  a  strong  confidence  for  a 
sufficient  evidence.  They  that  have  no  better  proof 
than  barely  a  strong  persuasion  that  they  are  convert- 
ed, are  certainly  as  yet  strangers  to  conversion. 

But  to  come  more  close.  As  it  was  said  to  the  adhe- 
rents of  Antichrist,  so  here ;  some  of  the  unconverted 
carry  their  marks  in  their  forehead  more  openly,  and 
some  in  their  hands  more  covertly.  The  apostle  reckons 
up  some  upon  whom  he  writes  the  sentence  of  death; 
as  in  these  dreadful  catalogues,  which  I  beseech  you  to 
attend  to  with  all  diligence.  "  For  this  ye  know,  that 
no  whoremonger,  nor  unclean  person,  nor  covetous 
man,  who  is  an  idolater,  hath  any  inheritance  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God.  Let  no  man  deceive 
you  with  vain  words ;  for  because  of  these  things  Com- 
eth the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  children  of  disobedience." 
"  But  the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  abominable,  and 
murderers,  and  whoremongers,  and  sorcerers,  and  ido- 
laters, and  all  liars,  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake 
that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second 
death."  "  Know  ye  not  that  the  unrighteous  shall  not 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  Be  not  deceived  ;  neither 
fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate, 
nor  abusers  of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves, 
nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extor* 
6* 


66      THE  MARKS  OF  THE  UNCONVERTED.   |  Chap.  IV. 

tioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  Wo  to 
them  that  have  their  name  written  in  this  catalogue  i 
Such  may  know,  as  certainly  as  if  God  had  told  them 
from  heaven,  that  they  are  unsanctified,  and  under  an 
impossibility  of  being  saved  in  this  condition. 

There  are  then  these  several  sorts  that,  past  all  dis- 
pute, are  unconverted ;  they  carry  their  marks  in  their 
foreheads. 

1.  The  unclean.  These  are  ever  reckoned  among 
the  goats,  and  have  their  names  (whoever  is  left  out) 
in  all  the  forementioned  catalogues. 

2.  The  covetous.  These  are  ever  branded  for  idola- 
ters, and  the  doors  of  the  kingdom  are  shut  against 
them  by  name. 

3.  Drunkards.  Not  only  such  as  drink  away  their 
reason,  but  withal  (yea,  above  all)  such  as  are  too 
strong  for  strong  drink.  The  Lord  fills  his  mouth 
with  woes  against  these,  and  declares  them  to  have  no 
inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

4.  Liars.  The  God  that  cannot  lie  has  told  them 
that  there  is  no  place  for  them  in  his  kingdom,  no  en- 
trance into  his  hill ;  but  their  portion  is  with  the  father 
of  lies,  whose  children  they  are,  in  the  lake  of  burnings. 

5.  Swearers.  The  end  of  these,  without  deep  and 
speedy  repentance,  is  swift  destruction,  and  most  cer- 
tain and  unavoidable  condemnation. 

6.  Railers  and  backbiters,  that  love  to  take  up  a  re- 
proach against  their  neighbor,  and  fling  all  the  dirt 
they  can  in  his  face,  or  else  wound  him  secretly  be- 
hind his  back. 

7.  Thieves,  extortioners,  oppressors,  that  grind  the 
poor,  or  over-reach  their  brethren  when  they  have 
them  at  an  advantage  :  these  must  know  that  God  "  is 


Chap.  IV.]      THE    MARKS   OF   THE   UNCONVERTED.  67 

the  avenger  of  all  such."  Hear,  O  ye  false  and  pur- 
loining and  wasteful  servants !  hear,  O  ye  deceitful 
tradesmen,  hear  your  sentence!  God  will  certainly 
hold  his  door  against  you,  and  turn  your  treasures  of 
unrighteousness  into  the  treasures  of  wrath,  and  make 
your  ill-gotten  silver  and  gold  to  torment  you,  like 
burning  metal  in  your  bowels. 

8.  All  that  do  ordinarily  live  in  the  profane  neglect 
of  God's  worship,  that  hear  not  his  word,  that  call  not 
on  his  name,  that  restrain  prayer  before  God,  that  mind 
not  their  own  nor  their  families'  souls,  but  "live  with- 
out God  in  the  world." 

9.  Those  that  are  frequenters  and  lovers  of  vain 
company.  God  hath  declared,  he  will  be  the  destroyer 
of  all  such,  and  that  they  shall  never  enter  into  the 
hill  of  his  rest. 

10.  Scoffers  at  religion,  that  make  a  scorn  of  precise 
walking,  and  mock  at  the  messengers  and  diligent  ser- 
vants of  the  Lord,  and  at  their  holy  profession,  and 
make  themselves  merry  with  the  weakness  and  fail- 
ings of  professors :  "  Hear,  ye  despisers,"  hear  your 
dreadful  doom ! 

Sinner,  consider  diligently  whether  thou  art  not  to 
be  found  in  one  of  these  ranks ;  for  if  this  be  thy  case, 
thou  art  in  the  "  gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of  iniqui- 
ty;" for  all  these  do  carry  their  marks  in  their  fore- 
heads, and  are  undoubtedly  the  sons  of  death.  And  if 
so,  the  Lord  pity  our  poor  congregations !  O  how  small 
a  number  will  remain,  when  these  ten  sorts  are  left 
out !  May  God  show  you  your  danger,  and  constrain 
you  to  cry,  "  Lord,  ha^e  mercy  upon  us !" 

Sirs,  what  shift  do  you  make  to  keep  up  your  con- 
fidence of  your  good  state,  when  God  from  heaven  de- 


63      THE  MARKS  OF  THE  UNCONVERTED.   [chap.  IV 

clares  against  you,  and  pronounces  you  in  a  state  oi 
damnation?  I  would  reason  with  you  as  God  with 
them,  "  How  canst  thou  say,  I  am  not  polluted  ?  See 
thy  way  in  the  valley;  know  what  thou  hast  done." 
Man,  is  not  thy  conscience  privy  to  thy  tricks  of  de- 
ceit, to  thy  secret  sins,  to  thy  way  of  lying  ?  Yea,  art 
not  thy  friends,  thy  family,  thy  neighbors,  witnesses 
to  thy  profane  neglect  of  God's  worship,  to  thy  cove- 
tous practices,  to  thy  envious  and  malicious  carriage  ? 
Blay  they  not  point  at  thee  as  thou  goest — There  goes 
a  gaming  prodigal ;  there  goes  a  drunken  Nabal,  a  com- 
panion of  evil-doers  ;  there  goes  a  railer,  or  a  scoffer, 
or  a  loose  liver  ?  Beloved,  God  hath  written  it  as  with 
a  sunbeam,  in  the  book  by  which  you  must  be  judged, 
that  these  are  not  the  spots  of  his  children,  and  that 
none  such  (except  renewed  by  converting  grace)  shall 
ever  escape  the  damnation  of  hell. 

O  that  such  as  you  would  now  be  persuaded  to  "  re- 
pent and  turn  from  all  your  transgressions,  or  else  ini- 
quity will  be  your  ruin !"  Alas !  for  poor  hardened 
sinners !  However,  you  must  know  that  you  have  been 
warned,  and  that  I  am  clear  of  your  blood  ;  and  whe- 
ther men  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear,  I  will 
leave  these  Scriptures  with  them,  which  will  prove 
either  as  thunder-bolts  to  awaken  them,  or  as  searing- 
irons  to  harden  them.  "  God  shall  wound  the  head  of 
his  enemies,  and  the  hairy  scalp  of  such  an  one  as 
goeth  on  still  in  his  trespasses."  "  He  that,  being  often 
reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  de- 
stroyed, and  that  without  remedy."  "Because  I  have 
called,  and  ye  refused,  I  have  stretched  out  my  hand, 
and  no  man  regarded,  &c.  I  will  laugh  at  your  calami- 
ty— when  your  destructiou  cometh  as  a  whirlwind  !" 

And  now  I  imagine  many  will  begin  to  bless  them- 


Chap.  IV.]   THE  MARKS  OF  THE  UNCONVERTED.      69 

selves,  and  think  all  is  well,  because  they  are  not  spot- 
ted with  these  grosser  evils ;  but  I  must  tell  you  that 
there  is  another  sort  of  unsanctified  persons,  that  carry 
not  their  marks  in  their  foreheads,  but  more  secretly 
and  covertly  I  These  do  frequently  deceive  themselves 
and  others,  and  pass  for  good  Christians,  when  they 
are  all  the  while  unsound  at  the  foundation.  Many 
pass  undiscovered,  till  death  and  judgment  bring  all  to 
light.  Those  self-deceivers  seem  to  come  even  to  hea- 
ven's gate  with  confidence  of  their  admission,  and  yet 
are  turned  off  at  last.  I  beseech  you  deeply  to  lay  to 
heart  and  firmly  retain  this  awakening  consideration, 
"  that  multitudes  miscarry  by  the  hand  of  some  secret 
sin,  that  is  not  only  hidden  from  others,  but  for  want 
of  observing  their  own  hearts,  even  from  themselves." 
A  man  may  be  free  from  open  pollutions,  and  yet  die 
at  last  by  the  fatal  hand  of  some  unobserved  iniquity ; 
and  there  are  these  twelve  hidden  sins,  through  which 
souls  go  down  by  numbers  into  the  chambers  of  eter- 
nal death:  these  you  must  search  carefully  for,  and 
take  them  as  black  marks  (wherever  they  be  found) 
discovering  a  graceless  and  unconverted  state ;  and  as 
you  love  your  lives,  read  carefully,  with  a  holy  jea- 
lousy of  yourselves,  lest  you  should  be  the  persons 
concerned. 

1.  Gross  wilful  ignorance.  O  how  many  poor  souls 
doth  this  sin  kill  in  the  dark!  Hos.  4:6,  while  they 
think  verily  they  have  good  hearts,  and  are  in  the  rea- 
dy way  to  heaven !  This  is  the  murderer  that  despatch- 
ed thousands  in  a  silent  manner,  when  (poor  hearts!) 
they  suspect  nothing,  and  see  not  the  hand  that  de- 
stroys them.  You  shall  find,  whatever  excuses  you 
ir  ake  for  ignorance,  that  it  is  a  soul-ruining  evil.    Isa. 


70      THE  MARKS  OP  THE  UNCONVERTED.   [Chap.  IV  j 

27:11.  2  Thess.  1 : 8.  2  Cor.  4 : 3.  Ah  !  would  it  not  i 
have  grieved  a  man's  heart  to  have  seen  that  woful 
spectacle,  when  the  poor  Protestants  were  shut  up,  (a 
multitude  together  in  a  barn,)  and  a  butcher  came, 
with  his  inhuman  hands  warmed  in  human  blood,  and 
led  them  one  by  one  (blindfold)  to  a  block,  where  he 
slew  them,  one  after  another,  by  scores,  in  cold  blood? 
But  how  much  more  should  your  hearts  bleed  to  think 
of  the  hundreds,  in  great  congregations,  that  ignorance 
doth  destroy  in  secret,  and  lead  blindfold  to  the  block ! 
Beware  that  this  be  not  your  case.  Make  no  plea  for 
ignorance ;  if  you  spare  that  sin,  know  that  it  will  not 
spare  you ;  and  would  a  man  keep  a  murderer  in  his 
bosom  ? 

2.  Secret  reserves  in  closing  with  Christ.  To  for 
sake  all  for  Christ,  to  hate  father  and  mother,  yea,  a 
man's  own  life  for  him:  Luke,  14:26.— "This  is  a  hard 
saying."  Some  will  do  much,  but  they  will  not  have 
the  religion  that  will  save  them  ;  they  never  come  to 
be  entirely  devoted  to  Christ,  nor  fully  to  resign  to  him, 
they  must  have  the  sweet  sin;  they  mean  to  do  them- 
selves no  harm ;  they  have  secret  exceptions  for  life, 
liberty,  or  estate.  Many  take  Christ  thus,  and  never 
consider  his  self-denying  terms,  nor  count  the  cost, 
and  this  error  in  the  foundation  mars  all,  and  secretly 
ruins  them  for  ever. 

3.  Formality  in  religion.  Many  rest  in  the  outside. 
of  religion,  and  in  the  external  performance  of  holy 
duties.  And  this  oftentimes  doth  most  effectually  de- 
ceive men,  and  more  certainly  undo  them  than  open 
profaneness  ;  as  it  was  in  the  Pharisee's  case.  They 
hear,  they  fast,  they  pray,  they  give  alms,  and  there- 
fore will  not  believe  but  their  case  is  good.  Whereas, 
resting  in  the  work  done,  and  coming  short  of  the 


CJhap,  IV.]       THE    MARKS    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.  71 

heart-work  and  the  inward  power  and  vitality  ot  reli- 
gion, they  fall  at  last  into  the  burning,  from  the  flatter- 
ing hopes  and  confident  persuasions  of  their  being  in 
the  ready  way  to  heaven.  O  dreadful  case,  when  a 
man's  religion  shall  serve  only  to  harden  him,  and  ef- 
fectually to  delude  and  deceive  his  own  soul! 

4.  False  ends  in  holy  duties.  This  was  the  ruin  of 
the  Pharisees.  O  how  many  a  poor  soul  is  undone 
by  this,  and  drops  into  hell  before  he  discerns  his  mis- 
take! He  performs  his  'good  duties,'  and  so  thinks 
all  is  well,  but  perceives  not  that  he  is  actuated  by  car- 
nal motives  all  the  while.  It  is  too  true,  that,  even 
with  the  really  sanctified,  many  carnal  ends  will  oft- 
times  creep  in  ;  but  they  are  the  matter  of  their  hatred 
and  humiliation,  and  never  come  to  be  habitually  pre- 
valent with  them  and  bear  the  greatest  sway.  But 
now,  when  the  main  thing  that  doth  ordinarily  carry 
a  man  out  to  religious  duties  shall  be  really  some  car- 
nal end;  as  to  satisfy  his  conscience,  to  get  the  repu- 
tation of  being  religious,  "to  be  seen  of  men,"  to  show 
his  own  gifts  and  parts,  to  avoid  the  reproach  of  a  pro- 
fane and  irreligious  person,  or  the  like ;  this  discovers 
an  unsound  heart.  O  Christian !  if  you  would  avoid 
self-deceit,  see  that  you  mind  not  only  your  acts,  but 
withal  (yea  above  all)  your  ends. 

5.  Trusting  in  their  own  righteousness.  This  is  a 
soul-ruining  mischief.  When  men  trust  in  their  own 
righteousness  they  do  indeed  reject  Christ's.  Beloved, 
you  had  need  be  watchful  on  every  hand ;  for,  not  only 
your  sins,  but  your  duties  may  undo  you.  It  may  be 
you  never  thought  of  this,  but  so  it  is,  that  a  man  may 
as  certainly  miscarry  by  his  seeming  righteousness 
and  supposed  graces  as  by  gross  sins;  and  that  is, 
when  a  man  doth  trust  to  these  as  his  righteousness 


72      THE  MARKS  Of   THE  UNCONVERTED.   [Chap.  IV. 

before  God,  for  the  satisfying  his  justice,  appeasing  his 
wrath,  procuring  his  favor,  and  obtaining  his  own  par- 
don ;  for  this  is  to  put  Christ  out  of  office,  and  make  a 
Savior  of  our  own  duties  and  graces.  Beware  of  this? 
O  professors ;  you  are  much  in  duties,  but  this  one  fly 
will  spoil  all  the  ointment.  When  you  have  done  most 
and  best,  be  sure  go  out  of  yourselves  to  Christ ;  reck- 
on your  own  righteousness  but  filthy  rags. 

6.  A  secret  enmity  against  the  strictness  of  religion. 
Many  moral  persons,  punctual  in  their  formal  devo- 
tions, have  a  bitter  enmity  against  strictness  and  zeal, 
and  hate  the  life  and  power  of  religion.  They  like 
not  this  forwardness,  nor  that  men  should  make  such 
a  stir  in  religion ;  they  condemn  the  strictness  of  reli- 
gion as  singularity,  indiscretion,  and  intemperate  zeal, 
and  with  them  a  lively  preacher  or  lively  Christian  is 
but  an  enthusiast.  These  men  love  not  holiness  as  ho- 
liness, (for  then  they  would  love  the  height  of  holiness,) 
and  therefore  are  undoubtedly  rotten  at  heart,  whatever 
good  opinion  they  have  of  themselves. 

7  The  resting  in  a  certain  degree  of  religion.  When 
they  have  so  much  as  will  save  them,  (as  they  sup- 
pose,) they  look  no  farther,  and  so  show  themselves 
short  of  true  grace,  which  will  ever  put  men  upon  as- 
piring to  perfection. 

8.  The  predominant  love  of  the  world.  This  is  the 
sure  evidence  of  an  unsanctified  heart.  But  how  close 
doth  this  sin  lurk  ofttimes  under  the  fair  covert  of 
forward  profession !  Yea,  such  a  power  of  deceit  is 
there  in  this  sin,  that  many  times,  when  every  body 
else  can  see  the  man's  worldliness  and  covetousness, 
he  cannot  see  it  himself,  but  hath  so  many  colors,  and 
excuses,  and  pretences  for  his  eagerness  after  the 
world,  that  he  doth  blind  his  own  eyes  and  perish  in 


Chap.   IV.]       THE    MARKS    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.  73 

his  self-deceit.  How  many  professors  are  there  with 
whom  the  world  hath  more  of  their  hearts  and  affec- 
tions than  Christ,  "who  mind  earthly  things,"  and 
thereby  are  evidently  after  the  flesh,  and  like  to  end  in 
destruction !  Yet  ask  these  men,  and  they  will  tell  you 
confidently  they  prize  Christ  above  all ;  for  they  see 
not  their  earthly-mindedness,  for  want  of  a  strict  obser- 
vation of  the  workings  of  their  own  hearts.  Did  they 
but  carefully  search,  they  would  quickly  find  that  their 
greatest  satisfaction  is  in  the  world,  and  their  greatest 
care  and  main  endeavor  to  get  and  secure  the  world ; 
which  are  the  certain  signs  of  an  unconverted  sinner. 
May  the  professing  part  of  the  world  take  earnest  heed 
that  they  perish  not  by  the  hand  of  this  sin  unobserved. 
Men  may  be,  and  often  are,  kept  off  from  Christ  as 
effectually  by  the  inordinate  love  of  lawful  comforts, 
as  by  the  most  unlawful  courses. 

9.  Reigning  malice  and  envy  against  those  that  dis- 
respect them,  and  are  injurious  to  them.  0!  how 
do  many,  that  seem  to  be  religious,  remember  injuries 
and  carry  grudges,  rendering  evil  for  evil,  loving  to 
take  revenge,  wishing  evil  to  them  that  wrong  them, 
directly  against  the  rule  of  the  Gospel,  the  pattern  of 
Christ,  and  the  nature  of  God !  Doubtless,  where  this 
evil  is  kept  boiling  in  the  heart,  and  is  not  hated,  re- 
sisted, and  mortified,  but  doth  habitually  prevail,  that 
person  is  in  the  very  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  a  state 
of  death. 

Reader,  doth  nothing  of  this  touch  thee  ?  Art  thou 
in  none  of  the  fore-mentioned  ranks?  O  search,  and 
search  again;  take  thy  heart  solemnly  to  task.  Wo 
unto  thee,  if,  after  thy  profession,  thou  shouldst  be 
found  under  the  power  of  ignorance,  lost  in  formality, 
drowned  in  earthly-mindedness,  envenomed  with  ma- 
7 


74       THE  MARKS  OF  THE  UNCONVERTED.   [Chap.  IV 

lice,  exalted  in  an  opinion  of  thine  own  righteousness, 
leavened  with  hypocrisy  and  carnal  ends  in  God's  ser- 
vice, and  imbittered  against  strictness  ;  this  would  be  a 
sad  discovery,  that  all  thy  religion  were  in  vain.  But 
I  must  proceed. 

10.  Unmodified  pride.  When  men  love  the  praise 
of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God,  and  set  their 
hearts  upon  men's  esteem,  applause,  and  approbation, 
it  is  most  certain  that  they  are  yet  in  their  sins,  and 
strangers  to  true  conversion.  When  men  see  not,  nor 
complain,  nor  groan  under,  the  pride  of  their  own 
hearts,  it  is  a  sign  they  are  dead  in  sin.  O,  how  se- 
cretly doth  this  sin  live  and  reign  in  many  hearts,  and 
they  know  it  not,  but  are  very  strangers  to  themselves ! 

11.  The  prevailing  love  of  pleasure.  This  is  a  black 
mark.  When  men  give  the  flesh  the  liberty  that  it 
craves,  and  pamper  and  please  it,  and  do  not  deny  and 
restrain  it;  when  their  great  delight  is  in  gratifying 
their  appetites  and  pleasing  their  senses;  whatever 
appearances  they  may  have  of  religion,  all  is  unsound. 
A  flesh-pleasing  life  cannot  be  pleasing  to  God :  "  They 
that  are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh,"  and  are 
careful  to  keep  it  under,  as  their  enemy. 

12.  Carnal  security,  or  a  presumptuous  ungrounded 
confidence  that  their  condition  is  already  good.  Many 
cry,  peace  and  safety,  when  sudden  destruction  is 
coming  upon  them.  This  was  that  which  kept  the  fool- 
ish virgins  sleeping  when  they  should  have  been  work- 
ing, upon  their  beds  when  they  should  have  been  at  the 
markets.  They  perceived  not  their  want  of  oil,  till 
the  bridegroom  was  come;  and  while  they  went  to 
buy,  the  door  was  shut.  And,  O !  that  these  foolish 
virgins  had  no  successors !  Where  is  the  place,  yea, 
where  is  the  house  almost,  where  these  do  not  dwell  1 


Chap.  IV.]       IMPROVEMENT    OF    THE    SUBJECT.  75 

Men  are  willing  to  cherish  in  themselves,  upon  ever  so 
slight  grounds,  a  hope  that  their  condition  is  good,  and 
so  look  not  out  after  a  change,  and  by  these  means 
perish  in  their  sins.  Are  you  at  peace?  Show  me 
upon  what  grounds  your  peace  is  maintained.  Is  it 
Scripture  peace?  Can  you  show  the  distinguishing 
marks  of  a  sound  believer?  Can  you  evidence  that 
you  have  something  more  than  any  hypocrite  in  the 
world  ever  had  ?  If  not,  fear  this  peace  more  than 
any  trouble ;  and  know  that  a  carnal  peace  doth  com- 
monly prove  the  most  mortal  enemy  of  the  soul,  and, 
whilst  it  smiles,  and  kisses,  and  speaks  fairly,  doth 
fatally  smite,  as  it  were,  under  the  fifth  rib. 

By  this  time  I  think  I  hear  my  readers  crying  out 
with  the  disciples,  "Who  then  shall  be  saved?"  Set 
out  from  among  our  congregations  all  those  ten  ranks 
of  the  profane  on  the  one  hand,  and  then  beside  take 
out  all  these  twelve  sorts  of  close  and  self-deceiving 
hypocrites  on  the  other  hand,  and  tell  me  then  whether 
it  be  not  a  small  remnant  that  shall  be  saved !  How 
few  will  be  the  sheep  that  shall  be  left,  when  all  these 
shall  be  separated  and  set  among  the  goats !  For  my 
part,  of  all  my  numerous  hearers,  I  have  no  hope  to 
see  any  of  them  in  heaven  that  are  to  be  found  among 
these  two-and-twenty  sorts  that  are  here  mentioned, 
except  by  sound  conversion  they  are  brought  into  an- 
other condition. 

Application. — And  now,  conscience,  do  thy  office: 
speak  out,  and  speak  home  to  him  that  heareth  or 
readeth  these  lines.  If  thou  find  any  of  these  marks 
upon  him,  thou  must  pronounce  him  utterly  unclean. 
Take  not  a  lie  in  thy  mouth ;  speak  not  peace  to  him 
to  whom  God  speaks  no  peace;  let  not  lust  bribe  thee, 
or  self-love  or  carnal  prejudice  blind  thee.    I  summon 


76  IMPROVEMENT   OF  THE    SUBJECT.      [Chap.  IV 

thee  from  the  court  of  heaven  to  come  and  give  evi- 
dence: I  require  thee,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  go  with 
me  in  search  of  the  suspected  house.  As  thou  wilt 
answer  it  at  thy  peril,  give  in  a  true  report  of  the  state 
and  case  of  him  that  readeth  this  book.  Conscience, 
wilt  thou  altogether  hold  thy  peace  at  such  a  time  as 
this?  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God,  that  thou  tell  the 
truth.  Is  the  man  converted,  or  is  he  not?  Doth  he 
allow  himself  in  any  way  of  wickedness,  or  doth  he 
not  ?  Doth  lie  truly  love,  and  please,  and  prize,  and 
delight  in  God  above  all  things,  or  not  ?  Come,  put  it 
to  an  issue. 

How  long  shall  this  soul  live  at  uncertainties  ?  O 
conscience,  bring  in  thy  verdict.  Is  this  man  a  new 
man,  or  is  he  not  ?  How  dost  thou  find  it?  Hath  there 
passed  a  thorough  and  mighty  change  upon  him,  or 
not?  When  was  the  time,  where  was  the  place,  or 
what  were  the  means  by  which  this  thorough  change 
of  the  new  birth  was  wrought  in  his  soul?  Speak, 
conscience;  or  if  thou  canst  not  tell  the  time  and 
place,  canst  thou  show  Scripture  evidence  that  the 
work  is  done  ?  Hath  the  man  been  ever  taken  off  from 
his  false  foundation,  from  the  false  hopes  and  false 
peace  wherein  once  he  trusted  ?  Hath  he  been  deeply 
convinced  of  sin,  and  of  his  lost  or  undone  condition, 
and  brought  out  of  himself,  and  off  from  his  sins,  to 
give  up  himself  entirely  to  Jesus  Christ?  or  dost  thou 
not  find  him  to  this  day  under  the  power  of  ignorance, 
or  in  the  mire  of  worldliness?  Hast  thou  not  taken 
upon  him  the  gains  of  unrighteousness  ?  Dost  thou 
not  find  him  a  stranger  to  prayer,  a  neglecter  of  the 
word,  a  lover  of  this  present  world?  Dost  thou  not 
sometimes  catch  him  in  a  lie?  Dost  thou  not  find  his 
heart  fermented  with  malice,  or  burning  with  lust,  or 


Chap.  IV.]      IMPROVEMENT   OF   THE    SUBJECT.  77 

going  after  his  covetousness  ?  Speak  plainly  to  all  the 
forementioned  particulars.  Canst  thou  acquit  this  man, 
this  woman,  from  being  any  of  the  two-and-tvventy 
sorts  here  described?  If  he  be  found  with  any  of 
them,  set  him  aside ;  his  portion  is  not  with  the  saints. 
He  must  be  converted  and  made  a  new  creature,  or  he 
cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Mortals,  be  not  your  own  betrayers ;  do  not  deceive 
your  own  hearts,  nor  set  your  hands  to  your  own 
ruin  by  a  wilful  blinding  of  yourselves.  Set  up  a  tri- 
bunal in  your  own  breasts :  bring  the  word  and  con- 
science together.  "  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony." 
Hear  what  the  word  concludes  of  your  state.  O  follow 
the  search  till  you  find  how  the  case  stands.  Mistake 
here,  and  you  perish.  And,  such  is  the  treachery  of  the 
heart,  the  subtlety  of  the  tempter,  and  the  deceitfulness 
of  sin,  all  conspiring  to  flatter  and  deceive  the  poor 
soul,  and  withal  so  common  and  easy  it  is  to  mistake, 
that  it  is  a  thousand  to  one  but  you  will  be  deceived, 
unless  you  be  very  careful,  and  earnest,  and  impartial 
in  the  inquiry  into  your  spiritual  condition.  O  there^- 
fore  be  diligent  in  your  work ;  go  to  the  bottom ;  search 
with  candles;  weigh  you  in  the  balance;  come  to  the 
standard  of  the  sanctuary;  bring  your  coin  to  the 
touchstone.  You  have  the  archest  cheats  in  the  world 
to  deal  with ;  a  world  of  counterfeit  coin  is  passing ; 
happy  is  he  that  takes  no  counterfeit  for  gold.  Satan 
is  master  of  deceit ;  he  can  draw  to  the  life  :  he  is  per- 
fect in  the  trade;  there  is  nothing  but  he  can  imitate. 
You  cannot  wish  for  any  grace,  but  he  can  fit  you  to  a 
hair  with  a  counterfeit.  Be  jealous ;  trust  not  so  much 
to  your  own  hearts.  Go  to  God  to  search  you  and  try 
you,  to  examine  you  and  prove  your  reins.  If  other 
helps  suffice  not  to  bring  all  to  an  issue,  but  you  are 
7* 


78  MISERIES  OF   THE   UNCONVERTED.        [Chap,-  V- 

still  at  a  loss,  open  your  case  ingenuously  to  some 
godly  and  faithful  minister,  or  Christian  friend.  Rest 
not  till  you  have  put  the  business  of  your  eternal  wel- 
fare out  of  doubt.  "  O  Searcher  of  hearts,  put  thou 
this  soul  upon,  and  help  him  in  his  search." 


CHAPTER    V. 

Showing  the  Miseries  of  the  Unconverted. 

So  unspeakably  dreadful  is  the  case  of  every  uncon- 
verted soul,  that  I  have  sometimes  thought  if  I  could 
but  convince  men  that  they  are  yet  unregenerate,  the 
work  were  more  than  half  done. 

But  I  find  by  sad  experience  that  such  a  spirit  of 
sloth  and  slumber  possesses  the  unsanctified,  that, 
though  they  be  convinced  that  they  are  yet  unconvert- 
ed, they  oft-times  carelessly  sit  still;  and  through  the 
love  of  sensual  pleasure,  or  the  hurry  of  worldly  busi- 
ness, or  the  noise  and  clamor  of  earthly  cares,  and 
lusts,  and  affections,  the  voice  of  conscience  is  drowned, 
and  men  go  no  farther  than  some  cold  wishes  and 
general  purposes  of  repenting  and  amending. 

It  is  therefore  of  high  necessity  that  I  not  only  con- 
vince men  that  they  are  unconverted,  but  that  I  also 
endeavour  to  bring  them  to  a  sense  of  the  fearful 
misery  of  this  state. 

But  here  I  find  myself  aground  at  first  setting  off. 
What  tongue  can  tell  them  sufficiently  of  their  misery, 
unless  it  were  his  who  was  in  that  flame?  Luke,  16  : 
24.  Where  is  the  ready  writer  whose  pen  can  depict 
their  misery  who  are  without  God  in  the  world  ?   This 


Chap.  V.]       MISERIES   OF  THE   UNCONVERTED.  79 

cannot  fully  be  done,  unless  we  know  the  infinite  ocean 
of  bliss  which  is  in  perfection  in  God,  and  from  which 
a  state  of  sin  doth  exclude  men.  "Who  knoweth" 
(saith  Moses)  "the  power  of  thine  anger?"  And  how 
shall  I  tell  men  that  which  I  do  not  know  ?  Yet  so 
much  we  know,  as  one  would  think  would  shake  the 
heart  of  that  man  that  had  the  least  degree  of  spiritual 
life  and  sense. 

But  this  is  yet  the  more  perplexing  difficulty,  that  I 
am  to  speak  to  them  that  are  without  spiritual  sense. 
Alas !  this  is  not  the  least  part  of  man's  misery,  that 
he  is  dead,  quite  dead,  in  trespasses  and  sins. 

Could  I  bring  paradise  into  view,  or  represent  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  as  much  advantage  as  the 
tempter  did  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  all  the  glory 
thereof,  to  our  Savior;  or  could  I  uncover  the  face  of 
the  deep  and  devouring  gulf  of  Tophet  in  all  its  ter- 
rors, and  open  the  gates  of  the  infernal  furnace  j  alas ! 
he  hath  no  eyes  to  see  it.  Could  I  paint  the  beauties 
of  holiness  or  the  glory  of  the  Gospel ;  or  could  I  ex- 
pose to  view  the  more  than  diabolical  deformity  and 
ugliness  of  sin:  he  can  no  more  judge  of  the  loveli- 
ness and  beauty  of  the  one,  and  the  filthiness  and  hate- 
fulness  of  the  other,  than  a  blind  man  of  colors.  He 
is  alienated  from  the  life  of  God,  through  the  ignorance 
that  is  in  him  because  of  the  blindness  of  his  heart. 
He  neither  doth  nor  can  know  the  things  of  God,  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned.  His  eyes  cannot 
be  savingly  opened  but  by  converting  grace.  He  is  a 
child  of  darkness,  and  walks  in  darkness.  Yea,  the 
light  in  him  is  darkness. 

Shall  I  ring  his  knell,  or  read  his  sentence,  or  sound 
in  his  ears  the  terrible  trump  of  God's  judgments,  that 
one  would  think  should  make  both  his  ears  to  tingle, 


80  MISERIES   OF   THE   UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  V. 

and  strike  him  into  Belshazzar's  fit,  even  to  change  his 
countenance,  and  to  loose  his  joints,  and  make  his  knees 
to  smite  one  against  another?  Alas!  he  perceives  me 
not:  he  hath  no  ears  to  hear.  Or  shall  I  call  up  the 
daughters  of  music,  and  sing  the  song  of  Moses  and 
the  Lamb?  Yet  he  will  not  be  stirred.  Shall  I  allure 
him  with  the  joyful  sound,  and  lovely  song,  and  glad 
tidings  of  the  Gospel?  with  the  most  sweet  and  invit- 
ing calls,  comforts,  and  cordials  of  the  divine  pro- 
mises so  exceedingly  great  and  precious  ?  It  will  not 
affect  him  savingly,  unless  I  could  find  him  ears  as 
well  as  tell  him  the  news. 

Shall  I  set  before  him  the  feast  of  fat  things,  the  wine 
of  wisdom,  the  bread  of  God,  the  hidden  manna?  He 
hath  no  appetite  for  them,  no  mind  to  them.  Should  I 
press  the  choicest  grapes,  the  heavenly  clusters  of  Gos- 
pel privileges,  and  drink  to  him  in  the  richest  wine  of 
God's  grace;  or  set  before  him  the  delicious  honey- 
comb of  God's  testimonies  ?  Alas !  he  hath  no  taste 
to  discern  them.  Shall  I  invite  the  dead  to  rise  and 
eat  the  banquet  of  their  funerals?  No  more  can  the 
dead  in  sin  relish  the  holy  food  wherewith  the  Lord  of 
life  hath  spread  his  table. 

What  then  shall  I  do?  shall  I  uncover  to  him  the 
lake  that  burnetii  with  fire  and  brimstone?  or  shall  I 
open  the  box  of  spikenard,  very  precious,  that  filleth 
the  whole  house  of  the  universe  with  its  perfume,  and 
hope  that  the  savor  of  Christ's  ointments  and  the 
smell  of  his  garments  will  attract  him  ?  Alas  !  dead 
sinners  are  like  the  dumb  idols :  they  have  mouths,  but 
they  speak  not ;  eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not ;  they 
have  ears,  but  they  hear  not ;  noses  have  they,  but  they 
smell  not;  they  have  hands,  but  they  handle  not;  feet 
have  they,  but  they  walk  not;  neither  speak  they 


Chap.  V.]        MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  81 

through  their  throat.  They  are  destitute  of  spiritual 
sense  and  motion. 

But  let  me  try  the  sense  that  doth  last  leave  us,  and 
draw  the  sword  of  the  word;  yet,  though  I  choose 
mine  arrows  out  of  God's  quiver,  and  direct  them  to 
the  heart,  nevertheless  he  feeleth  not ;  for  how  should 
he,  being  past  feeling?  so  that,  though  "the  wrath 
of  God  abideth  on  him,"  and  the  mountainous  weight 
of  so  many  thousand  sins,  yet  he  goes  up  and  down  as 
light  as  if  nothing  ailed  him.  In  a  word,  he  carries  a 
dead  soul  in  a  living  body,  and  his  flesh  is  but  the 
walking  coffin  of  a  corrupt  mind  that  is  twice  dead. 
Jude,  12. 

Which  way  then  shall  I  come  at  the  miserable  ob- 
jects that  I  have  to  deal  with?  Who  shall  make  the 
heart  of  stone  to  relent,  or  the  lifeless  carcass  to  feel  and 
move?  That  God  who  is  able  of  "stones  to  raise  up 
children  unto  Abraham  j"  "  that  raiseth  the  dead," 
"and  melteth  the  mountains,"  and  "strikes  water  out  of 
the  flint ;"  that  loves  to  work  like  himself,  beyond  the 
hopes  and  belief  of  man  ;  that  peoplethhis  church  with 
dry  bones,  and  planteth  his  orchard  with  dry  sticks ;  he 
is  able  to  do  this.  Therefore  "  I  bow  my  knees  to  the 
most  high  God ;"  and  as  our  Savior  prayed  at  the  se- 
pulchre of  Lazarus,  and  the  Shunamite  ran  to  the  man 
of  God  for  her  dead  child,  so  doth  your  mourning  mi- 
nister kneel  about  your  graves,  and  carry  you  in  the 
arms  of  prayer  to  that  God  in  whom  your  help  is  found. 

"  O  thou  all-powerful  Jehovah,  who  workest,  and 
none  can  hinder  thee !  who  hast  the  kej^s  of  death  and 
hell !  pity  thou  the  dead  souls  that  lie  here  entombed, 
and  roll  away  the  grave-stone,  and  say  as  to  the  dead 
body  of  Lazarus,  Come  forth.  Lighten  thou  this  dark- 
ness, O  inaccessible  Light,  and  let  the  day-spring  from 


82  MISERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  V 

on  high  visit  the  dark  regions  of  the  dead,  to  whom  I 
speak ;  for  thou  canst  open  the  eye  that  death  itself 
hath  closed ;  thou  that  formedst  the  ear,  canst  restore 
the  hearing :  say  thou  to  these  ears,  Ephphatha,  and 
they  shall  be  opened.  Give  thou  eyes  to  see  thine 
excellencies,  a  taste  that  may  relish  thy  sweetness,  a 
scent  that  may  savor  thy  ointment,  a  feeling  that  may 
discern  the  privilege  of  thy  favor,  the  burden  of  thy 
wrath,  the  intolerable  weight  of  unpardoned  sin ;  and 
give  thy  servant  an  order  to  prophesy  to  dry  bones, 
and  let  the  effects  of  this  prophecy  be  as  of  thy  pro- 
phet when  he  prophesied  the  valley  of  dry  bones  into 
a  living  army  exceeding  great."  "  The  hand  of  the 
Lord  was  upon  me,  and  carried  me  in  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  and  set  me  down  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  which 
was  full  of  bones.  He  said  to  me,  Prophesy  to  these 
bones,  and  say  to  them,  O  ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  voice 
of  the  Lord,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  these  bones,  Be- 
hold, I  will  cause  breath  to  enter  into  you,  and  ye  shall 
live  ;  and  I  will  lay  sinews  upon  you,  and  will  bring 
up  flesh  upon  you,  and  cover  you  with  skin,  and  put 
breath  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live ;  and  ye  shall  know 
that  I  am  the  Lord.  So  I  prophesied  as  I  was  com 
manded :  and  as  I  prophesied,  there  was  a  noise  and  a 
shaking;  and  the  bones  came  together,  bone  to  his 
bone.  And  when  I  beheld,  lo !  the  sinews  and  flesh 
came  upon  them,  and  covered  them  above ;  but  there 
was  no  breath  in  them.  Then  said  he  unto  me,  Pro- 
phesy unto  the  wind ;  prophesy,  son  of  man,  and  say 
to  the  wind,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Come  from 
the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and  breathe  on  these  slain, 
that  they  may  live.  So  I  prophesied  as  he  commanded 
me:  and  the  breath  came  into  them,  and  they  lived, 
and  stood  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding  great  army.'1 


Chap.   V.]        MISERIES    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.  83 

But  I  must  proceed,  as  I  am  able,  to  unfold  that  mys- 
tery which,  I  confess,  no  tongue  can  unfold,  no  heart 
can  sufficiently  comprehend. 

Know  therefore,  that,  while  thou  art  unconverted, 

1.  The  infinite  God  is  engaged  against  thee. 

It  is  no  small  part  of  thy  misery  that  thou  art  "  with- 
out God."  How  doth  Micah  run  crying  after  the 
Danites,  "Ye  have  taken  away  my  gods,  and  what 
have  I  more  ?"  O  what  a  mourning  then  must  thou 
lift  up  that  art  without  God,  that  canst  lay  no  claim 
to  him  without  daring  usurpation !  How  piercing  a 
moan  is  that  of  Saul  in  his  last  extremity,  "The  Phi- 
listines are  upon  me,  and  God  is  departed  from  me!" 
Sinners,  but  what  will  you  do  in  the  day  of  your  visita- 
tion? Whither  will  you  flee  for  help?  Where  will 
you  leave  your  glory  ?  What  will  you  do  when  the 
Philistines  are  upon  you ;  when  the  world  shall  take 
its  eternal  leave  of  you;  when  you  must  bid  your 
friends,  houses,  and  land,  farewell  for  evermore  ? 
What  will  you  do  then,  I  say,  that  have  not  God  to  go 
to?  Will  you  call  on  him  ?  Will  you  cry  to  him  for 
help?  Alas !  he  will  not  own  you.  He  will  not  take 
any  notice  of  you  ;  but  send  you  away  with,  "I  never 
knew  you.    Depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity." 

They  that  know  what  it  is  to  have  a  God  to  go  to,  a 
God  to  live  upon — they  know  a  little  what  a  fearful 
misery  it  is  to  be  without  God.  This  made  a  holy 
man  cry  out,  "  Let  me  have  God  or  nothing :  let  me 
know  him  and  his  will,  and  what  will  please  him,  and 
how  I  may  come  to  enjoy  him,  or  would  I  never  had 
an  understanding  to  know  any  thing!"  &c. 

But  thou  art  not  only  without  God,  but  God  is 
against  thee.  O  if  God  would  but  stand  neuter,  though 
he  did  not  own  nor  help  the  poor  sinner,  his  case  were 


84  MISERIES   OP   THE   UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  V 

not  so  deeply  miserable ;  though  God  should  give  up 
the  poor  creature  to  the  will  of  his  enemies,  to  do  their 
worst  with  him;  though  he  should  deliver  him  over  to 
the  tormentors,  that  devils  should  tear  and  torture  him 
to  their  utmost  power  and  skill,  yet  this  were  not  half 
so  fearful.  But  God  will  set  himself  against  the  sin- 
ner; and,  believe  it,  "it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  living  God."  There  is  no  friend  like 
him,  no  enemy  like  him.  As  much  as  heaven  is  above 
the  earth,  omnipotence  above  impotence,  infinity  above 
nullity ;  so  much  more  horrible  is  it  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God,  than  into  the  paws  of  bears 
and  lions,  yea,  furies  or  devils.  God  himself  will  be 
thy  tormentor;  thy  destruction  shall  come  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord.  "Tophet  is  deep  and  large,  the 
pile  thereof  is  fire  and  much  wood,  and  the  breath 
of  the  Lord,  like  a  stream  of  brimstone,  doth  kin- 
dle it." 

"If  God  be  against  thee,  who  shall  be  for  thee?  If 
one  man  sin  against  another,  the  judge  shall  judge 
him:  but  if  a  man  sin  against  the  Lord,  who  shall 
entreat  for  him  ?"  "  Thou,  even  thou,  art  to  be  feared  ; 
and  who  shall  stand  in  thy  sight  when  thou  art  angry?" 
Who  or  what  shall  deliver  you  out  of  his  hands  ?  Can 
mammon?  "Riches  profit  not  in  the  day  of  wrath." 
Can  kings  or  warriors  ?  No ;  "  They  shall  cry  to  the 
mountains  and  rocks  to  fall  on  them,  and  hide  them 
from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and 
from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb ;  for  the  great  day  of  his 
wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ?" 

Sinner !  I  think  this  should  go  like  a  dagger  to  thy 
heart,  to  know  that  God  is  thine  enemy.  O  whither 
wilt  thou  go  ?  where  wilt  thou  shelter  thee  ?  There  is 
no  hope  for  thee,  unless  thou  lay  down  thy  weapons 


Chap.  V.J        MISERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  86 

and  sue  out  thy  pardon,  and  get  Christ  to  stand  thy 
friend  and  make  thy  peace.  If  it  were  not  for  this, 
thou  mightest  go  into  some  howling  wilderness,  and 
there  pine  in  sorrow,  and  run  mad  for  anguish  of  heart 
and  horrible  despair.  But  in  Christ  there  is  a  possibil- 
ity of  mercy  for  thee,  yea,  a  proffer  of  mercy  to  thee, 
that  thou  mayest  have  God  more  for  thee  than  he  is 
now  against  thee.  But  if  thou  wilt  not  forsake  thy 
sins,  nor  turn  thoroughly  and  to  some  purpose  to  God, 
by  a  sound  conversion,  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on 
thee,  and  he  proclaimeth  himself  to  be  against  thee,  as 
in  the  prophet:  "Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God, 
Behold  I,  even  I,  am  against  thee !" 

1.  His  face  is  against  thee.  "The  face  of  the  Lord 
is  against  them  that  do  evil,  to  cut  off  the  remembrance 
of  them."  Wo  unto  them  whom  God  shall  set  his 
face  against.  When  he  did  but  look  on  the  host  of  the 
Egyptians,  how  terrible  was  the  consequence!  "I 
will  set  my  face  against  that  man,  and  will  make  him 
a  sign  and  a  proverb,  and  will  cut  him  off  from  the 
midst  of  my  people;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord." 

2.  His  heart  is  against  thee.  He  hateth  all  the 
workers  of  iniquity.  Man,  doth  not  thy  heart  tremble 
to  think  of  thy  being  an  object  of  God's  hatred? 
"  Though  Moses  and  Samuel  stood  before  me,  yet  my 
mind  could  not  be  toward  this  people:  cast  them  out 
of  my  sight."  "  My  soul  loathed  them,  and  their  soul 
also  abhorred  me." 

3.  His  hand  is  against  thee.  All  his  attributes  are 
against  thee. 

His  justice  is  like  a  flaming  sword  unsheathed  against 
thee :  "  If  I  whet  my  glittering  sword,  and  my  hand 
take  hold  on  judgment,  I  will  render  vengeance  to  mine 
8 


88  MISERIE8    OF   THB    UN'CONVERTED.        [Chap.  V. 

adversaries,  and  will  reward  them  that  hate  me :  I  will 
make  mine  arrows  drunk  with  blood,"  &c. 

So  exact  is  justice,  that  it  will  by  no  means  clear  the 
guilty.  God  will  not  discharge  thee,  he  will  not  hold 
thee  guiltless,  but  will  require  the  whole  debt  in  person 
of  thee,  unless  thou  canst  make  a  Scripture  claim  to 
Christ  and  his  satisfaction.  When  the  enlightened 
einner  looks  on  justice,  and  sees  the  balance  in  which 
he  must  be  weighed  and  the  sword  by  which  he  must 
be  executed,  he  feels  an  earthquake  in  his  breast ;  but 
Satan  keeps  this  out  of  sight,  and  persuades  the  soul 
(while  he  can)  that  the  Lord  is  all  made  up  of  mercy, 
and  so  lulls  it  asleep  in  sin.  Divine  justice  is  exact ; 
it  must  have  satisfaction  to  the  utmost  farthing:  it 
denounceth  "indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and 
anguish,  to  every  soul  that  doeth  evil."  It  "curseth 
every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in 
the  law  to  do  them."  The  justice  of  God  to  the  unpar- 
doned sinner  that  hath  a  sense  of  his  misery,  is  more 
terrible  than  the  sight  of  the  bailiff  or  creditor  to  the 
bankrupt  debtor,  or  than  the  sight  of  the  judge  and 
bench  to  the  robber,  or  of  the  irons  and  gibbet  to  the 
guilty  murderer.  When  justice  sits  upon  life  and 
death,  what  dreadful  work  doth  it  make  to  the  wretched 
sinner!  "Bind  him  hand  and  foot;  cast  him  into  outer 
darkness;  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
"Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire." 
This  is  the  terrible  sentence  that  justice  pronounceth. 
Sinner,  by  this  severe  justice  must  thou  be  tried;  and 
as  God  liveth,  this  killing  sentence  must  thou  hear, 
unless  thou  repent  and  be  converted. 

The  holiness  of  God  is  directly  opposed  to  thee.  He 
is  not  only  angry  with  thee,  (so  he  may  be  with  his 
children,)  but  he  hath  a  fixed,  rooted,  habitual  displea- 


Chap.  V.]        MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  87 

sure  against  thee.  "He  loathes  thee."  God's  nature 
is  infinitely  contrary  to  sin,  and  so  he  cannot  delight  in 
a  sinner  out  of  Christ. 

O  what  misery  is  this,  to  be  out  of  the  favor,  yea, 
under  the  hatred  of  God;  that  God,  who  can  as  easily 
lay  aside  his  nature  and  cease  to  be  God,  as  not  to  be 
contrary  to  thee  and  detest  thee,  except  thou  be  changed 
and  renewed.  O  sinner,  how  darest  thou  to  think  of 
the  bright  and  radiant  sun  of  purity,  or  the  beauties, 
the  glory  of  holiness  that  is  in  God !  "  The  stars  are 
not  pure  in  his  sight."  "  He  humbles  himself  to  be- 
hold things  that  are  done  in  heaven."  O  those  light 
and  sparkling  eyes  of  his  !  what  do  they  spy  in  thee? 
and  hast  thou  no  interest  in  Christ  neither,  that  he 
should  plead  for  thee  ?  I  think  he  should  hear  thee 
crying  out  (astonished)  with  the  Bethshemites,  "Who 
is  able  to  stand  before  this  holy  Lord  God?" 

The  power  of  God  is  mounted  like  a  mighty  cannon 
against  thee.  The  glory  of  God's  power  is  to  be  dis- 
played in  the  wonderful  confusion  and  destruction  of 
them  that  obey  not  the  Gospel.  He  will  "  make  his 
power  known  in  them,"  how  mightily  he  can  torment 
them.  For  this  end  he  raiseth  them  up,  "  that  he  might 
make  his  power  known."  O  man,  art  thou  able  to 
make  thy  party  good  with  thy  Maker  ?  No  more  can 
a  silly  reed  against  the  cedars  of  God,  or  a  little  boat 
against  the  rolling  ocean,  or  the  children's  bubble* 
against  the  blustering  winds. 

Sinner,  the  power  of  God's  anger  is  against  thee, 
and  power  and  anger  together  make  fearful  work;  it 
were  better  thou  hadst  all  the  world  in  arms  against 
thee  than  to  have  the  power  of  God  against  thee. 
There  is  no  escaping  his  hands,  no  breaking  his  prison. 
"  The  thunder  of  his  power,  who  can  understand  ?M 


88  MISERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  V. 

Unhappy  man  that  shall  understand  it  by  feeling  it! 
"  If  he  will  contend  with  him,  he  cannot  answer  him 
one  of  a  thousand.  He  is  wise  in  heart,  and  mighty  in 
strength  :  who  hath  hardened  himself  against  him,  and 
prospered  1  which  removeth  the  mountains,  and  they 
know  it  not ;  which  overturneth  them  in  his  anger ; 
which  shaketh  the  earth  out  of  her  place,  and  the  pil- 
lars thereof  tremble ;  which  commandeth  the  sun,  and 
it  riseth  not;  and  sealeth  up  the  stars!  Behold,  he 
taketh  away,  who  can  hinder  him?  Who  will  say 
unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ?  If  God  will  not  withdraw 
his  anger,  the  proud  helpers  do  stoop  under  him."  And 
art  thou  a  fit  match  for  such  an  antagonist?  "  O  con- 
sider this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  he  tear  you  in  pieces, 
and  there  be  none  to  deliver."  Submit  to  mercy ;  let 
not  dust  and  stubble  stand  out  against  the  Almighty; 
set  not  briars  and  thorns  against  him  in  battle,  lest  he 
go  through  them,  and  consume  them  together;  but  lay 
hold  on  his  strength,  that  you  may  "  make  peace  with 
him."    "Wo  to  him  that  striveth  with  his  Maker!" 

The  wisdom  of  God  is  set  to  ruin  thee.  He  hath 
ordained  his  arrows,  and  prepared  instruments  of 
death,  and  made  all  things  ready.  His  counsels  are 
against  thee,  to  contrive  thy  destruction.  He  laughs 
to  see  how  thou  wilt  be  taken  and  ensnared  in  the  evil 
day.  "  The  Lord  shall  laugh  at  him,  for  he  seeth  that 
his  day  is  coming."  He  sees  how  thou  wilt  come  down 
mightily  in  a  moment;  how  thou  wilt  wring  thy  hands 
and  gnash  thy  teeth  for  anguish  of  heart,  when  thou 
seest  thou  art  fallen  irremediably  into  the  pit  of  de- 
struction. 

The  truth  of  God  is  sworn  against  thee.  If  he  be 
true  and  faithful,  thou  must  perish  if  thou  goest  on. 
Unless  he  be  false  to  his  word,  thou  must  die,  except 


Chap.  V.]        MISERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  89 

thou  repent.  If  we  believe  not,  yet  he  abideth  faith- 
ful; he  cannot  deny  himself;  that  is,  he  is  faithful 
to  nis  threatenings  as  well  as  to  his  promises,  and  will 
show  his  faithfulness  in  our  confusion,  if  we  believe 
not.  God  hath  told  thee  as  plain  as  it  can  be  spoken, 
that  "  if  he  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  in  him ;" 
that  "if  thou  livest  after  the  flesh,  thou  shalt  die;" 
that  "except  thou  be  converted,  thou  shalt  in  no  wise 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Beloved,  as  the 
immutable  faithfulness  of  God  in  his  promise  and  oath 
affords  believers  strong  consolation,  so  they  are  to  un- 
believers for  strong  consternation  and  confusion. 

O  sinner,  tell  me  what  dost  thou  think  of  all  the 
threatenings  of  God's  word  that  stand  upon  record 
against  thee  ?  Dost  thou  believe  they  are  truth  or  not? 
If  not,  thou  art  a  wretched  infidel.  But,  if  thou  dost 
believe  them,  0  heart  of  steel,  that  thou  canst  walk  up 
and  down  in  quiet,  when  the  truth  and  faithfulness  of 
God  are  engaged  to  destroy  thee !  so  that,  if  the  Al- 
mighty can  do  it,  thou  must  surely  perish.  The  whole 
book  of  God  doth  testify  against  thee  while  thou  re- 
mainest  unsanctified :  it  condemns  thee  in  every  leaf, 
and  is  to  thee  like  EzekiePs  roll,  written  within  and 
without  with  lamentation,  and  mourning,  and  wo. 
And  all  this  shall  surely  come  upon  thee  and  overtake 
thee,  except  thou  repent.  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall 
pass  away,  but  one  jot  or  tittle  of  this  word  shall  never 
pass  away." 

Now,  put  all  this  together,  and  tell  me  if  the  case  of 
the  unconverted  be  not  deplorably  miserable.  As  we 
read  of  some  persons  that  had  bound  themselves  by 
an  oath  and  a  curse  to  kill  Paul;  so  thou  must  know, 
O  sinner,  to  thy  terror,  that  all  the  attributes  of  an  in- 
finite God  are  bound  by  an  oath  to  punish  thee,  0 
8* 


90  MISERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  V, 

man,  what  wilt  thou  do  ?  whither  wilt  thou  flee  ?  If 
God's  omniscience  can  find  thee,  thou  shalt  not  escape. 
If  the  true  and  faithful  God  regard  his  oath,  perish 
thou  must,  except  thou  believe  and  repent.  If  the  Al- 
mighty hath  power  to  torment  thee,  thou  must  be  per- 
fectly miserable  in  soul  and  body  to  all  eternity,  unless 
it  be  prevented  by  speedy  conversion. 

II.  The  whole  creation  of  God  is  against  thee. 
"The  whole  creation  (saith  Paul)  groaneth  and  travail- 
eth  in  pain."  But  what  is  it  that  the  creation  groan- 
eth under  ?  why,  the  fearful  abuse  that  it  is  subject  to 
in  serving  the  lusts  of  unsanctified  me?.  And  what  is 
it  that  the  creation  groaneth  for  ?  why,  for  freedom 
and  liberty  from  this  abuse ;  for  the  "  creature  is  very 
unwillingly  subject  to  this  bondage."  If  the  irrational 
and  inanimate  creatures  had  speech  and  reason,  they 
would  cry  out  under  it,  as  a  bondage  insufferable,  to  be 
abused  by  the  ungodly,  contrary  to  their  natures  and 
the  ends  that  the  great  Creator  made  them  for.  It  is  a 
saying  of  an  eminent  divine, '  The  liquor  that  the  drunk- 
ard drinketh,  if  it  had  reason,  like  a  man,  to  know  how 
shamefully  it  is  abused,  it  would  groan  in  the  barrel 
against  him,  it  would  groan  in  the  cup  against  him, 
groan  in  his  throat,  in  his  stomach  against  him ;  it 
would  fly  in  his  face,  if  it  could  speak.  And  if  God 
should  open  the  mouths  of  his  creatures,  as  he  did  the 
mouth  of  Balaam's  ass,  the  proud  man's  garment  on 
his  back  would  groan  against  him.  There  is  never  a 
creature,  but  if  it  had  reason  to  know  how  it  is  abused 
till  a  man  be  converted,  would  groan  against  him :  the 
land  would  groan  to  bear  him  ;  the  air  would  groan  to 
give  him  breath ;  their  houses  would  groan  to  lodge 
them ;  their  beds  would  groan  to  ease  them,  their  food 


Chap.  V.]        MI9ERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  91 

to  nourish  them,  their  clothes  to  cover  them,  and  the 
creature  would  groan  to  give  them  any  help  and  com* 
fort,  so  long  as  they  live  in  sin  against  God.' 

I  think  this  should  be  a  terror  to  an  unconverted 
soul,  to  think  he  is  a  burden  to  the  creation :  "  Cut  it 
down  ;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?"  If  inanimate 
creatures  could  but  speak,  thy  food  would  say,  Lord, 
must  I  nourish  such  a  wretch  as  this,  and  yield  forth 
my  strength  for  him  to  dishonor  thee?  No,  I  will 
choke  him  rather,  if  thou  wilt  give  me  permission. 
The  very  air  would  say,  Lord,  must  I  give  this  man 
breath  to  speak  against  Heaven,  and  scorn  thy  people, 
and  vent  his  pride  and  wrath,  and  filthy  communica 
tion,  and  utter  oaths  and  blasphemy  against  thee  ?  No, 
if  thou  but  say  the  word,  he  shall  be  breathless  for 
me.  His  poor  beast  would  say,  Lord,  must  I  carry 
him  upon  his  wicked  design?  No,  I  will  break  his 
bones,  I  will  end  his  days  rather,  if  I  may  have  leave 
from  thee.  A  wicked  man !  the  earth  groans  under 
him,  and  hell  groans  for  him,  till  death  satisfies  both, 
and  unburdens  the  earth.  While  the  Lord  of  hosts  is 
against  thee,  be  sure  the  host  of  the  Lord  is  against 
thee,  and  all  the  creatures,  as  it  were,  up  in  arms,  till, 
upon  a  man's  conversion,  the  controversy  being  set- 
tled between  God  and  him,  he  makes  a  covenant  of 
peace  with  the  creature  for  him. 

III.  The  roaring  lion,  Satan,  hath  his  full  power  up- 
on thee.  Thou  art  led  captive  by  him  at  his  will. 
This  is  the  spirit  that  worketh  in  the  children  of  diso- 
bedience. He  is  the  ruler  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world,  that  is,  of  ignorant  sinners  who  live  in  darkness. 
You  pity  the  poor  Indians  that  worship  the  devil  for 
their  god,  but  little  think  it  is  your  own  case.    Why, 


92  MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.        [Chap«  V« 

it  is  the  common  misery  of  all  the  unsanctioned,  that 
the  devil  is  their  God.  Not  that  they  intend  to  do  him 
homage;  they  will  be  ready  to  defy  him,  and  him  that 
should  say  so  of  them ;  but  all  this  while  they  serve 
him,  and  live  under  his  government.  His  servants  ye 
are  to  whom  ye  obey.  Rom.  6  :  16.  O  how  many 
then  will  be  found  the  real  servants  of  the  devil,  that 
take  themselves  for  no  other  than  the  children  of  God ! 
He  can  no  sooner  offer  a  sinful  delight  or  opportunity 
for  your  unlawful  advantage,  but  you  embrace  it.  If 
he  suggest  a  lie,  or  prompt  you  to  revenge,  you  readi- 
ly obey.  If  he  forbid  you  to  read  or  pray,  you  heark- 
en to  him,  and  therefore  his  servants  you  are.  Indeed 
he  stands  behind  the  curtain,  he  acts  in  the  dark,  and 
sinners  see  not  who  setteth  them  on  work,  but  all  the 
while  he  leads  them.  Doubtless  the  liar  intends  not 
a  service  to  Satan,  but  his  own  advantage ;  yet  it  is  he 
that  stands  unobserved  and  putteth  the  thing  into  his 
heart.  Undoubtedly  Judas,  when  he  sold  his  Master 
for  money,  and  the  Chaldeans  and  Sabeans,  when  they 
plundered  Job,  intended  not  to  do  the  devil  a  pleasure, 
but  to  satisfy  their  own  covetous  thirst ;  yet  it  was  he 
that  actuated  them  in  their  wickedness.  Men  may  be 
very  slaves  and  common  drudges  for  the  devil,  and 
never  know  it :  nay,  they  may  please  themselves  in 
thoughts  of  liberty. 

Art  thou  yet  in  ignorance,  and  not  turned  from  dark- 
ness unto  light?  Why,  thou  art  under  the  power  of 
Satan.  Dost  thou  live  in  the  wilful  practice  of  any 
known  sin  ?  Know  that  thou  art  of  the  devil.  Dost 
thou  live  in  strife,  or  envy,  or  malice  ?  Verily  he  is  thy 
father.  O  dreadful  case !  However  Satan  may  pro- 
vide his  slaves  with  divers  pleasures,  yet  it  is  but  to 
draw  them  into  endless  perdition.    The  serpent  comes 


93 

with  the  fruit  in  his  mouth,  O  but  (with  Eve)  thou 
seest  not  the  deadly  sting  in  his  tail!  He  that  is  now 
thy  tempter,  will  one  day  be  thy  tormenter.  O  that  I 
could  but  give  thee  to  see  how  black  a  master  thou 
servest,  how  filthy  a  drudgery  thou  dost,  how  merci- 
less a  tyrant  thou  gratifiest ;  all  whose  pleasure  is  to 
set  thee  on  work  to  make  thy  perdition  and  damnation 
sure,  and  to  heat  the  furnace  hotter  and  hotter  in  which 
thou  must  burn  for  millions  and  millions  of  ages! 

IV.  The  guilt  of  all  thy  sins  lies  like  a  mountain 
upon  thee.  Poor  soul !  thou  feelest  it  not ;  but  this  is 
that  which  seals  thy  misery  upon  thee.  While  un- 
converted, none  of  thy  sins  are  blotted  out,  they  are 
all  upon  the  score  against  thee.  Regeneration  and  re- 
mission are  never  separated  j  the  unsanctified  are  un- 
questionably unjustified  and  unpardoned.  It  is  a  fear- 
ful thing  to  be  in  debt,  but  above  all,  in  God's  debt ; 
for  there  is  no  arrest  so  formidable  as  his,  no  prison  so 
dreary  as  his.  Look  upon  an  enlightened  sinner  who 
feels  the  weight  of  his  own  guilt:  O  how  frightful  are 
his  looks,  how  fearful  are  his  complaints !  his  comforts 
are  turned  into  wormwood,  and  his  moisture  into 
drought,  and  his  sleep  is  departed  from  his  eyes.  He 
is  a  terror  to  himself  and  all  that  are  about  him,  and  is 
ready  to  envy  the  very  stones  that  lie  in  the  street,  be- 
cause they  are  senseless  and  feel  not  his  misery,  and 
wisheth  he  had  been  a  dog,  or  a  toad,  or  a  serpent, 
rather  than  a  man,  because  then  death  had  put  an  end 
to  his  misery;  whereas  now  it  will  be  but  the  begin- 
ning of  that  which  will  know  no  ending. 

How  light  soever  you  may  make  it  now,  you  will 
one  day  find  the  guilt  of  unpardoned  sin  to  be  a  heavy 
burden.    This  is  a  mill-stone,  that  "whosoever  falleth 


94  MISERIES    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.         [Chap.  V. 

upon  it  shall  be  broken;  but  upon  whomsoever  it  shall 
fall,  it  shall  grind  him  to  powder."  The  guilt  of  our 
sins  caused  the  agony  and  death  of  the  blessed  Savior. 
And  if  it  did  this  in  the  green  tree,  what  will  it  do  in 
the  dry? 

O  think  of  thy  case  in  time !  Canst  thou  think  of 
that  threat  without  trembling,  "Ye  shall  die  in  your 
sins?"  O,  better  were  it  for  thee  to  die  in  a  jail,  in  a 
ditch,  in  a  dungeon,  than  die  in  thy  sins!  If  death,  as 
it  will  take  away  all  thy  comforts,  would  take  away 
thy  sins  too,  it  were  some  mitigation ;  but  thy  sins  will 
follow  thee  when  thy  friends  leave  thee,  and  all  worldly 
enjoyments  shake  hands  with  thee.  Thy  sins  will  not 
die  with  thee  as  a  prisoner's  other  debts  will ;  but  they 
will  go  to  judgment  with  thee,  there  to  be  thy  accusers; 
and  they  will  go  to  hell  with  thee,  there  to  be  thy  tor- 
mentors. Better  to  have  so  many  fiends  and  furies 
about  thee,  than  thy  sins  to  fall  upon  thee  and  fasten 
on  thee.  O  the  work  that  these  will  make  thee!  O 
look  over  thy  debts  in  time,  how  much  thou  art  in  the 
books  of  every  one  of  God's  laws ;  how  every  one  of 
God's  commandments  is  ready  to  arrest  thee,  and  take 
thee  by  the  throat  for  the  innumerable  bonds  it  hath 
upon  thee!  What  wilt  thou  do  then,  when  they  shall 
all  together  come  in  against  thee?  Hold  open  the 
eyes  of  thy  conscience  to  consider  this,  that  thou  may- 
est  despair  of  thyself  and  be  driven  to  Christ,  and  flee 
lor  refuge  to  "lay  hold  on  the  hope  that  is  set  before 
thee." 

V.  Thy  raging  lusts  do  miserably  enslave  thee. 
While  unconverted,  thou  art  a  very  servant  to  sin :  it 
reigns  over  thee,  and  holds  thee  under  its  dominion, 
till  thou  art  brought  within  the  bonds  of  God's  cove- 


Chap.  V.]         MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  95 

nant.  There  is  not  such  another  tyrant  as  sin.  O  the 
filthy  and  fearful  work  that  it  doth  engage  its  ser- 
vants in ! 

Would  it  not  pierce  thy  heart  to  see  a  company  of 
poor  creatures  drudging  and  toiling  to  carry  together 
fagots  and  fuel  for  their  own  burning  ?  This  is  the 
employment  of  sin's  drudges.  Even  while  they  bless 
themselves  in  their  unrighteous  gains,  while  they  sing 
in  pleasures,  they  are  but  treasuring  up  vengeance  for 
their  eternal  burning;  they  are  but  adding  to  the  pile 
of  Tophet,  and  flinging  in  oil  to  make  the  flame  rage 
the  fiercer.  Who  would  serve  such  a  master,  whose 
work  is  drudgery,  whose  wages  are  death  ? 

What  a  woful  spectacle  was  the  poor  wretch  pos- 
sessed with  the  legion !  Would  it  not  have  grieved 
thy  heart  to  have  seen  him  among  the  tombs  cutting 
and  wounding  himself  ?  This  is  thy  case ;  such  is  thy 
work ;  every  stroke  is  a  thrust  at  thy  heart.  Con- 
science indeed  is  now  asleep;  but,  when  death  and 
judgment  shall  bring  thee  to  thy  senses,  then  wilt  thou 
feel  the  anguish  in  every  wound.  The  convinced  sin- 
ner is  a  sensible  instance  of  the  miserable  bondage  of 
sin:  conscience  flies  upon  him,  and  tells  him  the  end 
of  these  things ;  and  yet  such  a  slave  lie  is  to  his  lusts 
that  on  he  goes,  though  he  sees  it  will  be  his  perdition: 
when  the  temptation  comes,  lust  breaks  the  cords  of  all 
his  vows  and  promises,  and  carries  him  headlong  to 
his  own  destruction. 

VI.  The  furnace  of  eternal  vengeance  is  heated  ready 
for  thee.  Hell  and  destruction  open  their  mouths  upon 
thee ;  they  gape  for  thee ;  they  groan  for  thee,  Isa.  5  : 
14;  waiting  as  it  were  with  a  greedy  eye  as  thou 
standest  on  the  brink.    If  the  wrath  of  men  be  "  as  the 


§8  MISERIES   OP   THE   UNCONVERTED.         [Chap.  V 

roaring  of  a  lion,"  "  more  heavy  than  the  sands,"  what 
is  the  wrath  of  the  infinite  God  1  If  the  burning  fur- 
nace heated  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  fiery  rage,  when  he 
commanded  it  to  be  made  yet  seven  times  hotter,  was 
so  fierce  as  to  burn  up  even  those  that  drew  near  to 
throw  the  three  children  in,  how  hot  is  that  burning  of 
the  Almighty's  fury !  Surely  this  is  seventy  times  se- 
ven more  fierce.  What  thinkest  thou,  O  man,  of  be- 
ing a  fagot  in  hell  to  all  eternity  1  "  Can  thine  heart 
endure,  or  can  thine  hands  be  strong  in  the  day  that  I 
shall  deal  with  thee  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Canst 
thou  abide  the  everlasting  burnings  1  Canst  thou  dwell 
with  consuming  fire  ?  when  thou  shalt  be  as  glowing 
iron  in  hell,  and  thy  whole  body  and  soul  shall  be  as 
perfectly  possessed  by  God's  burning  vengeance  as  the 
sparkling  iron  with  fire,  when  heated  in  the  fiercest 
furnace  ?  Thou  canst  not  bear  God's  whip ;  how  then 
wilt  thou  endure  his  scorpions  ?  Thou  art  even  crush- 
ed, and  ready  to  wish  thyself  dead,  under  the  weight 
of  his  finger,  how  then  wilt  thou  bear  the  weight  of  his 
heavy  arm  ?  Some  of  the  choicest  servants  of  God, 
when  under  the  hidings  of  his  face,  and  dreading  the 
effects  of  his  displeasure,  have  bewailed  their  condi- 
tion with  bitter  lamentations.  How  then  wilt  thou  en- 
dure when  God  shall  pour  out  all  his  vials,  and  set  him- 
self against  thee,  to  torment  thee?  when  he  shall  make 
thy  conscience  the  tunnel  by  which  he  will  be  pouring 
his  burning  wrath  into  thy  soul  for  ever,  and  when  he 
shall  fill  all  thy  pores  as  full  of  torment  as  they  are 
now  full  of  sin ;  when  immortality  shall  be  thy  misery, 
and  to  die  the  death  of  a  brute,  and  be  swallowed  in 
the  gulf  of  annihilation,  shall  be  such  a  felicity  as  the 
whole  eternity  of  wishes  and  an  ocean  of  tears  shall 
never  purchase  ? 


Chap.  V.J         MISERIES   OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  97 

Now  thou  canst  put  off  the  evil  day,  and  laugh  and 
be  merry,  and  forget  "  the  terror  of  the  Lord."  But  how 
wilt  thou  hold  out,  or  hold  up,  when  God  will  cast 
thee  into  a  "  bed  of  torments,"  and  make  thee  to  "  lie 
down  in  sorrow  ?"  when  roarings  and  blasphemies  shall 
be  thy  only  music,  and  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
which  is  poured  out  without  mixture  into  the  cup  of 
his  indignation,  shall  be  thy  only  drink?  and  when 
thou  shalt  draw  in  flames  for  thy  breath  ?  in  a  word, 
when  the  smoke  of  thy  torment  shall  ascend  for  ever 
and  ever,  and  thou  shalt  have  no  rest  day  nor  night,  no 
rest  in  thy  conscience,  no  ease  in  thy  bones ;  but  thou 
shalt  be  an  execration  and  astonishment,  and  a  curse 
and  a  reproach  !  for  evermore?  Jer.  42  :  18. 

O  sinner !  stop  here,  and  consider.  If  thou  art  a  man, 
and  not  a  senseless  block,  consider.  Bethink  thyself 
where  thou  standest — why,  upon  the  very  brink  of 
this  furnace.  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  thy  soul  liveth, 
there  is  but  a  step  between  thee  and  this.  Thou  know- 
est  not,  when  thou  liest  down,  but  thou  mayest  be  in 
hell  before  morning:  thou  knowest  not,  when  thou 
risest,  but  thou  mayest  drop  in  before  night.  Darest 
thou  make  light  of  this  ?  Wilt  thou  go  on  in  such  a 
dreadful  condition,  as  if  nothing  ailed  thee?  If  thou 
puttest  it  off,  and  sayest,  "  This  doth  not  belong  to 
thee,"  look  again  over  the  foregoing  chapter,  and  tell 
me  the  truth.  Are  none  of  those  black  marks  found 
upon  thee?  Do  not  blind  thine  eyes;  do  not  deceive 
thyself;  see  thy  misery  while  thou  mayest  prevent  it. 
Think  what  it  is  to  be  a  vile  outcast,  a  lost  reprobate, 
a  vessel  of  wrath,  into  which  the  Lord  will  be  pouring 
out  his  tormenting  fury  while  he  hath  a  being. 

Divine  wrath  is  a  fierce,  devouring,  everlasting,  un- 
quenchable fire,  and  thy  soul  and  bodv  must  be  the 
9 


98  MISERIES   OF   THE   UNCONVERTED.        [.Chap,   v* 

fuel  upon  which  it  must  be  feeding  for  ever,  unless 
thou  consider  thy  ways,  and  speedily  turn  to  the  Lord 
by  a  sound  conversion.  They  that  have  been  singed 
by  this  fire,  and  had  but  the  smell  thereof  passing  upon 
them  before  they  died,  O  what  amazing  spectacles 
they  have  been !  Whose  heart  would  not  have  melted 
to  have  heard  Spira's  outcries? — to  have  seen  Chalo- 
ner,  that  monument  of  justice,  worn  to  skin  and  bone, 
blaspheming  the  God  of  heaven,  cursing  himself,  and 
continually  crying  out,  "  O  torture,  torture,  torture ! 
O  torture,  torture !"  as  if  the  flames  of  wrath  had  already 
taken  hold  on  him  ? — to  have  heard  Rogers  crying  out, 
"  I  have  had  a  little  pleasure,  but  now  I  must  have  hell 
for  evermore!"  wishing  but  for  this  mitigation,  that 
God  would  but  let  him  lie  burning  for  ever  behind  the 
back  of  that  fire,  (on  the  hearth,)  and  bringing  in  his 
sad  conclusion  still,  at  the  end  of  whatever  was  spoken 
to  him  to  afford  him  some  hope,  "  I  must  go  to  hell,  I 
must  go  to  hell,  I  must  go  to  the  furnace  of  hell,  for 
millions  and  millions  of  ages!"  O!  if  the  fears  and 
forethoughts  of  the  wrath  to  come  be  so  terrible,  so  in- 
tolerable, what  must  be  the  feeling  of  it  ? 

Sinner,  it  is  in  vain  to  flatter  you  :  this  would  be  but 
to  draw  you  into  the  unquenchable  fire.  Know  ye 
from  the  living  God,  that  here  you  must  lie;  with 
these  burnings  you  must  dwell  till  immortality  die 
and  immutability  change,  till  eternity  run  out  and  om- 
nipotence is  no  longer  able  to  punish,  except  you  be  in 
good  earnest  renewed  throughout  by  sanctifying  grace. 

VII.  The  law  discharges  all  its  threats  and  curses  at 
thee.  O  how  dreadfully  doth  it  thunder !  It  flashes  de- 
vouring fire  in  thy  face.  Its  words  are  as  drawn  swords, 
and  as  the  sharp  arrows  of  the  mighty.    It  demands  sa- 


Chap    V.]         MISERIES    OF    THE    UNCONVERTED.  99 

tisfaction  to  the  utmost,  and  cries,  Justice !  Justice!  It 
6peaks  blood,  and  war,  and  wounds,  and  death,  against 
thee. 

Read  Deuteronomy.  O  man,  away  to  thy  strong 
hold;  away  from  thy  sins;  haste  to  the  sanctuary,  the 
city  of  refuge — even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  hide  thee 
in  him,  or  else  thou  art  lost,  without  any  hope  of  re- 
covery. 

VIII.  The  Gospel  itself  bindeth  the  sentence  of  eter- 
nal damnation  upon  thee.  If  thou  continuest  in  thine 
impenitent  and  unconverted  state,  know  that  the  Gos- 
pel denounceth  a  much  sorer  condemnation  than  ever 
would  have  been  for  the  transgression  only  of  the  first 
covenant.  Is  it  not  a  dreadful  case  to  have  the  Gospel 
itself  fill  its  mouth  with  threats,  thunder,  and  damna- 
tion? "  To  have  the  Lord  to  roar  from  mount  Zion 
against  thee  ?"  "  Hear  the  terror  of  the  Lord.  He  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned.  Except  ye  repent,  ye 
shall  all  perish."  "  This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light 
is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  love  darkness  rather 
than  light."  "  He  that  believeth  not,  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him."  "  If  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was 
steadfast,  and  every  transgression  and  disobedience  re- 
ceived a  just  recompense  of  reward,  how  shall  we  es- 
cape if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?"  "  He  that  des- 
pised Moses'  law  died  wilhout  mercy :  of  how  much 
sorer  punishment  shall  he  be  thought  worthy  that  hath 
trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God  ?" 

Application. — And  is  this  true  indeed  ?  Is  this  thy 
misery  ?  Yea,  it  is  as  true  as  God  is.  Better  open  thine 
eyes  and  see  it  now,  while  thou  mayest  remedy  it,  than 
blind  and  harden  thyself  till  (to  thy  eternal  sorrow) 
thou  shalt  feel  what  thou  wouldst  not  believe ;  and  if 


100  MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.         [Chap.  V. 

it  be  true,  what  dost  thou  mean,  to  loiter  and  linger  in 
such  a  case  as  this  ? 

Alas  for  thee,  poor  man !  how  effectually  hath  sin 
undone  thee,  and  deprived  and  despoiled  thee  even  of 
thy  reason  to  look  after  thine  own  everlasting  good ! 
O  miserable  wretch  !  what  stupidity  and  senselessness 
have  surprised  thee !  O  let  me  knock  up  and  awake 
this  sleeper  !  Who  dwells  within  the  walls  of  this 
flesh?  Is  there  ever  a  soul  here,  a  rational,  under- 
standing soul?  or  art  thou  only  a  senseless  lump? 

Art  thou  a  reasonable  soul,  and  yet  so  far  brutified 
as  to  forget  that  thou  art  immortal,  and  to  think  thyself 
to  be  as  the  beasts  that  perish  ?  Art  thou  turned  into 
flesh,  that  thou  savorest  nothing  but  gratifying  the 
sense,  and  making  provision  for  the  flesh?  or  else, 
having  reason  to  understand  the  eternity  of  the  future 
state,  dost  thou  yet  make  light  of  being  everlastingly 
miserable,  which  is  to  be  so  much  below  the  brute,  as 
it  is  worse  to  act  against  reason  than  to  act  without  it  ? 
O  unhappy  soul,  that  wast  the  glory  of  man,  the  com- 
panion of  angels,  and  the  image  of  God  !  that  wast 
God's  representative  in  the  world,  and  hadst  the  su- 
premacy amongst  the  creatures,  and  the  dominion  over 
thy  Maker's  works !  art  thou  now  become  a  slave  to 
sense,  a  servant  to  so  base  an  idol  as  thy  belly,  pam- 
pering a  vile  body  that  must  soon  be  food  for  worms? 
or  art  thou  heaping  together  a  little  refined  earth,  no 
more  suitable  to  thy  spiritual  immortal  nature  than  the 
dirt  and  sticks?  O  why  dost  thou  not  bethink  thee 
where  thou  shalt  be  for  ever  ?  Death  is  at  hand ;  "  the 
Judge  is  even  at  the  door."  Yet  a  little  while,  and 
"  time  shall  be  no  longer."  And  wilt  thou  run  the 
hazard  of  continuing  in  such  a  state,  in  which,  if  thou 
be  overtaken,  thou  art  irrecoverably  miserable  ? 


Chap.  V.]         MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  101 

Come  then,  arise,  and  attend  thy  nearest  concern- 
ments !  Tell  me  whither  art  thou  going  ?  What !  wilt 
thou  live  in  such  a  course,  wherein  every  act  is  a  step 
to  perdition;  and  thou  dost  not  know  but  the  next  night 
thou  mayest  make  thy  bed  in  hell  ?  O !  if  thou  hast  a 
spark  of  reason,  consider,  and  turn  and  hearken  to  thy 
true  friend,  who  would  show  thee  thy  present  misery, 
that  thou  mightest  in  time  make  thine  escape,  and  be 
eternally  happy. 

Hear  what  the  Lord  saith  :  "  Fear  ye  not  me?  saith 
the  Lord:  will  ye  not  tremble  at  my  presence?"  O 
sinners,  do  you  make  light  of  "  the  wrath  to  come?" 
I  am  sure  there  is  a  time  coming  when  you  will  not 
make  light  of  it.  Why,  the  very  "  devils  believe  and 
tremble."  What !  are  you  more  hardened  than  they  ? 
Will  you  run  upon  the  edge  of  the  rock?  Will  you 
play  at  the  hole  of  the  asp  ?  Will  you  put  your  hand 
upon  the  cockatrice's  den?  Will  you  dance  upon  the 
fire  till  you  are  burnt,  or  dally  with  devouring  wrath  as 
if  you  were  indifferent  whether  you  escape  or  endure 
it?  O  madness  of  folly!  like  that  of  a  madman  that 
casteth  firebrands,  arrows,  and  death,  and  saith,  "  Am 
not  I  in  sport !"  There  is  no  one  so  insane  as  the  wil- 
ful sinner,  that  goeth  on  in  his  unconverted  state  with- 
out sense,  as  if  nothing  ailed  him.  The  man  that  runs 
into  the  cannon's  mouth,  and  sports  with  his  blood,  or 
lets  out  his  life  in  a  frolic,  is  sensible,  sober,  and  serious, 
compared  with  him  that  goeth  on  still  in  his  trespasses; 
for  "he  stretcheth  out  his  hand  against  God,  and 
strengthened  himself  against  the  Almighty:  he  run- 
neth upon  him,  even  upon  his  neck,  upon  the  thick 
bosses  of  his  buckler."  Is  it  wisdom  to  sport  with  the 
second  death,  or  to  venture  into  the  lake  that  burnetii 
with  fire  and  brimstone,  as  if  then  wert  but  going  to 


102  MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.         [Chap.  V 

wash  thee,  or  swim  for  recreation  ?  Wilt  thou,  as  it 
were,  jump  into  eternal  flames,  as  the  children  through 
the  bonfire  ?  What  shall  I  say  ?  I  can  find  out  no  ex- 
pression, no  comparison,  whereby  to  set  forth  the 
dreadful  madness  of  the  soul  that  will  go  on  in  sin. 

Awake,  awake !  O  sinner,  arise  and  take  thy  flight. 
There  is  but  one  door  that  thou  mayest  flee  by,  and 
that  is  the  strait  door  of  conversion  and  the  new  birth. 
Unless  thou  turn  unfeignedly  from  all  thy  sins,  and 
come  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  take  him  for  the  Lord  thy 
righteousness,  and  walk  in  him  in  holiness  and  new- 
ness of  life;  as  the  Lord  liveth,  it  is  not  more  certain 
that  thou  art  now  out  of  hell,  than  that  thou  shalt  with- 
out fail  be  in  it  but  a  few  days  or  nights  hence.  O  set 
thy  heart  to  think  of  thy  case.  Is  not  thy  everlasting 
misery  or  welfare  that  which  doth  deserve  a  little 
consideration  ?  Look  again  over  the  miseries  of  the 
unconverted.  If  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken  by  me,  re- 
gard me  not ;  but  if  it  be  the  very  word  of  God  that  all 
this  misery  lies  upon  thee,  what  a  case  art  thou  in  !  Is 
it  for  one  that  hath  his  senses  to  live  in  such  a  condi 
tion,  and  not  to  make  all  possible  expedition  for  pre- 
venting his  utter  ruin?  O  man,  who  hath  bewitched 
thee,  Gal.  3  :  1,  that  in  the  matters  of  this  present  life 
thou  shalt  be  wise  enough  to  forecast  thy  business, 
foresee  thy  danger,  and  prevent  thy  ruin;  but  in  mat- 
ters of  everlasting  consequence  be  slight  and  careless, 
as  if  they  little  concerned  thee?  Why,  is  it  nothing 
to  thee  to  have  all  the  attributes  of  God  engaged  against 
thee?  Canst  thou  do  well  without  his  favor?  Canst 
thou  escape  his  hands,  or  endure  his  vengeance  ?  Dost 
thou  hear  the  creation  groaning  under  thee,  and  hell 
groaning  for  thee,  and  yet  think  thy  case  good  enough  ? 
Art  thou  under  the  power  of  corruption,  in  the  dark 


Chap.  V.]         MISERIES    OF   THE    UNCONVERTED.  103 

noisome  prison,  fettered  with  lusts,  working  out  thy 
own  damnation — and  is  not  this  worth  a  thought? 

Wilt  thou  make  light  of  all  the  terrors  of  the  law,  of 
all  its  curses  and  thunderbolts,  as  if  they  were  but  the 
threatenings  of  a  child?  Dost  thou  laugh  at  hell  and 
destruction,  or  canst  thou  drink  the  envenomed  cup  of 
the  Almighty's  fury,  as  if  it  were  but  a  common  po- 
tion? 

Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man,  for  I  will  demand 
of  thee,  and  answer  thou  me.  Art  thou  such  a  leviathan 
as  that  the  scales  of  thy  pride  should  keep  thee  from 
thy  Maker's  coming  at  thee?  Wilt  thou  esteem  his 
arrows  as  straw,  and  the  instruments  of  death  as  rotten 
wood?  Art  thou  chief  of  all  the  children  of  pride,  even 
that  thou  shouldst  count  his  darts  as  stubble,  and  laugh 
at  the  shaking  of  his  spear?  Art  thou  made  without 
fear,  and  contemnest  thou  his  barbed  arrows?  Art 
thou  like  the  horse  that  paweth  in  the  valley  and  re- 
joiceth  in  his  strength,  who  goeth  out  to  meet  the  armed 
men?  Dost  thou  mock  at  fear,  and  art  thou  not  af- 
frighted, neither  turnest  back  from  God's  sword  when 
his  quiver  rattleth  against  thee,  the  glittering  spear  and 
the  shield?  Well,  if  the  threats  and  calls  of  the  word 
will  not  fright  thee  nor  awaken  thee,  I  am  sure  death 
and  judgment  will.  O  what  wilt  thou  do  when  the 
Lord  cometh  forth  against  thee,  and  in  his  fury  falleth 
upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt  feel  what  thou  r^adest?  If, 
when  Daniel's  enemies  were  cast  into  the  den  of  lions, 
both  they  and  their  wives  and  their  children,  the  lions 
had  the  mastery  of  them,  and  brake  all  their  bones  in 
pieces  ere  they  came  at  the  bottom  of  the  den,  Dan.  0 : 
24,  what  shall  become  of  thee  when  thou  fallest  into 
the  hands  of  the  living  God.  when  he  shall  gripe  thee  in 
his  strong  arms,  and  grind  ind  crush  thee  in  his  wrath? 


104  DIRECTIONS    TO   THE  UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VI. 

O  do  not  then  contend  with  God.  "  Repent  and 
be  converted,"  so  none  of  this  shall  come  upon  thee. 
"Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found;  call  ye 
upon  him  while  he  is  near.  Let  the  wicked  forsake 
his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts:  and 
let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy 
upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  par- 
don." 


CHAPTER    VI. 

CONTAINING    DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED. 

And  there  came  one,  and  kneeled  to  him,  and  asked  him.  Good 
Master,  what  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life? — 
Mark,  10 :  17. 

Before  thou  readest  these  directions,  I  advise  thee, 
yea,  I  charge  thee,  before  God  and  his  holy  angels, 
that  thou  resolve  to  follow  them,  (as  far  as  conscience 
shall  be  convinced  of  their  agreeableness  to  God's 
word  and  thy  state,)  and  call  in  his  assistance  and 
blessing  that  they  may  succeed.  And  as  I  have  sought 
the  Lord  and  consulted  his  oracles  what  advice  to  give 
thee,  so  must  thou  entertain  it  with  that  awe,  reverence, 
and  purpose  of  obedience  which  the  word  of  the  liv- 
ing God  requires. 

Now  then,  attend :  "  Set  your  heart  unto  all  that  I  shall 
testify  unto  you  this  day;  for  it  is  not  a  vain  tiling — it 
is  your  life."  This  is  the  end  of  all  that  has  been  spo- 
ken hitherto,  to  bring  you  to  set  your  heart  to  this 
great  work  and  turn  without  delay  to  the  living  God. 
T  would  not  trouble  you,  nor  "torment  you  before  the 
time,"  with  the  thoughts  of  your  eternal  misery,  but 


Chap.  VI.]       DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  105 

in  order  to  your  making  your  escape.  Were  you  shut 
up  under  your  present  misery  without  remedy,  it  were 
but  mercy  (as  one  speaks)  to  let  you  alone,  that  you 
might  take  in  that  little  poor  comfort  which  you  are 
capable  of  in  this  world ;  but  you  may  yet  be  happy, 
if  you  do  not  wilfully  refuse  the  means  of  your  re- 
covery. Behold,  I  hold  open  the  door  to  you ;  arise, 
take  your  flight;  I  set  the  way  of  life  before  you;  walk 
in  it,  and  you  shall  live,  and  not  die.  It  grieves  me  to 
think  you  should  be  your  own  murderers,  and  throw 
yourselves  headlong,  when  God  and  man  cry  out  to 
you,  as  Peter  in  another  case  to  his  Master,  u  Spare 
thyself." 

The  destruction  of  ungodly  men  is  wilful.  God 
that  made  them  crieth  out  to  them,  as  Paul  to  the  dis- 
tracted jailor  when  about  to  murder  himself,  "Do  thy- 
self no  harm."  The  ministers  of  Christ  forewarn  them, 
and  follow  them,  and  would  gladly  have  them  back ; 
but  alas !  no  expostulations  or  entreaties  will  prevail, 
but  men  will  hurl  themselves  into  perdition,  while  pity 
itself  looketh  on. 

What  shall  I  say  ?  Would  it  not  grieve  a  person  of 
any  humanity,  if,  in  the  time  of  a  raging  plague,  he 
should  have  a  remedy  (as  one  said  well)  that  would 
infallibly  cure  all  the  country  and  recover  the  most 
hopeless  patients,  and  yet  his  friends  and  neighbors 
should  die  by  hundreds  about  him,  because  they  would 
not  use  it?  Men  and  brethren,  though  you  carry  the 
certain  symptoms  of  death  in  your  faces,  yet  I  have  a 
receipt  that  will  cure  you  all  infallibly.  Follow  but 
these  directions,  and  if  you  do  not  then  reach  heaven, 
[  will  be  content  to  lose  it. 

Hear  then,  0  sinner !  and  as  ever  thou  wouldst  be 
converted  and  saved,  embrace  this  following  counsel. 


100  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.      [  Chap.  VI. 

I.  Attend  conscientiously  upon  the  word,  as  the 
means  appointed  for  thy  conversion.  Attend,  I  say, 
not  customarily,  but  conscientiously ;  with  this  desire, 
design,  hope,  and  expectation,  that  thou  mayest  be  con- 
verted by  it.  To  every  sermon  thou  nearest  come  with 
this  thought ;  'O  I  hope  God  will  now  come  in;  I  hope 
this  day  may  be  the  time,  this  may  be  the  man  by 
whom  God  will  bring  me  home.'  When  thou  art 
coming  to  the  privileges  of  God's  house,  lift  up  thy 
heart  thus  to  God:  "Lord,  let  this  be  the  Sabbath,  let 
this  be  the  season  wherein  I  may  receive  renewing 
grace.  O  let  it  be  said  that  this  day  such  a  one  was 
born  unto  thee." 

Object.  Thou  wilt  say,  I  have  been  long  a  hearer  of 
the  word,  and  yet  it  hath  not  been  effectual  to  my  con- 
version. Ans.  Yea;  but  thou  hast  not  attended  upon 
it  in  this  manner,  nor  resolved  to  receive  it  into  thine 
heart,  and  obey  all  the  words  which  the  Lord  your 
God  should  speak  unto  you. 

IT.  Set  upon  the  constant  and  diligent  use  of  serious 
and  fervent  prayer.  He  that  neglects  prayer  is  a  pro- 
fane and  unsanctified  sinner.  He  that  is  not  constant 
in  prayer  is  but  a  hypocrite,  unless  the  omission  be 
contrary  to  his  ordinary  course,  under  the  force  of 
some  instant  temptation.  This  is  one  of  the  first 
things  conversion  appears  in,  that  it  sets  men  a  pray- 
ing. Therefore  set  to  this  duty  ;  let  not  one  day  pass 
over  thee  wherein  thou  hast  not,  morning  and  evening, 
set  apart  some  time  for  set  and  solemn  prayer  in  secret. 
Call  thy  family  also  together  daily  and  duly  to  wor- 
ship God  with  thee.  Wo  be  unto  thee,  if  thou  be 
found  among  the  families  that  call  not  upon  God's 
name.  But  cold  and  lifeless  devotions  will  not  reach 
half  way  to  heaven.     Be  fervent  and  importunate. 


Chap.  VI.]       DIRECTIONS   TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  107 

Importunity  will  carry  it;  but  without  violence  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  will  not  be  taken.  Thou  must 
strive  to  enter,  and  wrestle  with  tears  and  supplica- 
tions, as  Jacob,  if  thou  meanest  to  carry  the  blessing. 
Thou  art  undone  for  ever  without  grace,  and  therefore 
thou  must  set  to  it,  and  resolve  to  take  no  denial.  That 
man  who  is  fixed  in  this  resolution  says:  'Well,  I  must 
have  grace,  or  I  will  never  give  over  till  I  have  grace ; 
I  will  never  cease  earnestly  pleading,  and  striving  with 
God  and  my  own  heart,  till  he  doth  renew  me  by  the 
power  of  his  grace.' 

III.  Forsake  thy  evil  company,  and  forbear  the  occa- 
sions of  sin. 

Thou  wilt  never  be  turned  from  sin  till  thou  wilt  de- 
cline and  forego  the  temptations  of  sin.  I  never  ex- 
pect thy  conversion  from  sin,  unless  thou  art  brought 
to  some  self-denial,  so  as  to  flee  the  occasions.  If  thou 
wilt  be  nibbling  at  the  bait,  and  playing  on  the  brink, 
and  tampering  and  meddling  with  the  snare,  thy  soul 
will  surely  be  taken.  Where  God  doth  expose  men, 
in  his  providence,  unavoidably  to  temptation,  and  the 
occasions  are  such  as  we  cannot  remove,  we  may  ex- 
pect special  assistance  in  the  use  of  his  means;  but 
when  we  tempt  God  by  running  into  danger,  he  will 
not  engage  to  support  us  when  we  are  tempted.  And, 
of  all  temptations,  one  of  the  most  fatal  and  pernicious 
is  evil  companions.  O  what  hopeful  beginnings  have 
these  often  stifled  !  O  the  souls,  the  estates,  the  fami- 
lies, the  towns,  that  these  have  ruined  !  How  many 
poor  sinners  have  been  enlightened  and  convinced, 
and  been  just  ready  to  give  the  devil  the  slip,  and  have 
even  escaped  the  snare;  and  yet  wicked  company  has 
pulled  them  back  at  last,  and  made  them  seven-fold 
more  the  children  of  hell  ?    In  a  word,  I  have  no  hopps 


108  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.      |  Chap.   Vf. 

of  thee,  except  thou  wilt  shake  off  thy  evil  company. 
Thy  life  depends  upon  it:  forsake  this,  or  else  thou 
canst  not  live.  Wilt  thou  be  worse  than  the  beast,  to 
run  on  when  thou  seest  the  Lord  with  a  drawn  sword 
in  the  way  1  Let  this  sentence  be  written  in  capitals 
upon  thy  conscience:  "a  companion  of  fools  shall 
be  destroyed."  The  Lord  hath  spoken  it,  and  who 
shall  reverse  it  ? 

And  wilt  thou  run  upon  destruction,  when  God  him- 
self doth  forewarn  thee  ?  If  God  doth  ever  change 
thy  heart,  it  will  appear  in  the  change  of  thy  company. 
O  fear  and  flee  the  gulf  by  which  so  many  thousand 
souls  have  been  swallowed  up  in  perdition.  It  will  be 
hard  for  thee  indeed  to  make  thy  escape.  Thy  com- 
panions will  be  mocking  thee  out  of  thy  religion,  and 
will  study  to  fill  thee  with  prejudices  against  strictness, 
as  ridiculous  and  comfortless.  They  will  be  flattering 
thee  and  alluring  thee;  but  remember  the  warnings  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  "My  son,  if  sinners  entice  thee,  con- 
sent thou  not.  If  they  say,  Come  with  us,  cast  in  thy 
lot  among  us ;  walk  thou  not  in  the  way  with  them, 
refrain  thy  foot  from  their  path  j  avoid  it,  pass  not  by 
it,  turn  from  it,  and  pass  away.  For  the  way  of  the 
wicked  is  as  darkness,  they  know  not  at  what  they 
stumble.  They  lie  in  wait  for  their  own  blood,  they 
lurk  privily  for  their  own  lives."  My  soul  is  moved 
within  me  to  see  how  many  of  my  hearers  and  read- 
ers are  likely  to  perish,  both  they  and  their  houses,  by 
this  wretched  mischief,  even  the  haunting  of  such  pla- 
ces and  company,  whereby  they  are  drawn  into  sin. 
Once  more  I  admonish  you,  as  Moses  did  Israel.  "And 
he  spake  unto  the  congregation,  saying,  Depart,  I  pray 
you,  from  the  tents  of  these  wicked  men."  O  flee  them 
as  you  would  those  that  had  the  plague-sores  running 


Chap.  VI.J      DIRECTIONS   TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.  109 

in  their  foreheads.  These  are  the  devil's  panders  and 
decoys ;  and  if  thou  dost  not  make  thy  escape  they 
will  draw  thee  into  perdition,  and  will  prove  thy  eter- 
nal ruin. 

IV.  Set  apart  a  day  to  humble  thy  soul  in  secret  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  to  work  a  sense  of  thy  sins  and 
miseries  upon  thy  heart. 

Read  over  our  Lord's  discourse,  Matt.  5,  and  write 
down  the  duties  omitted  and  sins  committed  by  thee 
against  every  commandment,  and  so  make  a  catalogue 
of  thy  sins,  and  with  shame  and  sorrow  spread  them 
before  the  Lord. 

V.  Strike  in  with  the  Spirit  when  he  begins  to  work 
upon  thy  heart.  When  he  works  convictions,  O  do  not 
stifle  them,  but  join  in  with  him,  and  beg  the  Lord  to 
give  you  saving  conversion.  "Quench  not  the  Spi- 
rit ;"  do  not  reject  him,  do  not  resist  him.  Beware  of 
putting  out  convictions  with  evil  company  or  worldly 
business.  When  thou  art  in  anguish  on  account  of 
sin,  and  fears  about  thy  eternal  state,  beg  of  God  that 
you  may  have  peace  only  in  thoroughly  renouncing  all 
sin,  loathing  it  in  thy  inmost  soul,  and  giving  thy 
whole  heart,  without  reserve,  to  Christ.  Say  to  him, 
"Strike  home,  Lord;  leave  not  the  work  in  the  midst. 
Show  me  all  my  guilt,  so  far  as  nature  can  bear  it.  O 
go  to  the  bottom  of  my  corruption,  and  let  out  the 
life-blood  of  my  sins."  Thus  yield  up  thyself  to  the 
working  of  the  Spirit,  and  hoist  thy  sails  to  his  gusts. 

VI.  Set  it  down  with  thyself  as  an  undoubted  truth, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  thee  ever  to  get  to  heaven  in 
this  thy  unconverted  state. 

Can  any  other  but  Christ  save  thee?  and  he  tells 
thee  he  will  never  do  it  except  thou  be  regenerated  and 
10 


110  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VI. 

converted.  Doth  he  not  keep  the  keys  of  heaven  ?  and 
canst  thou  go  in  without  his  leave?  as  thou  must,  if 
ever  thou  come  thither  in  thy  natural  condition,  with- 
out a  sound  and  thorough  renovation. 

VII.  Labor  to  get  a  thorough  sight  and  lively  sense 
and  feeling  of  thy  sins. 

Till  men  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  pricked  at 
the  heart,  and  quite  sick  of  sin,  they  will  not  come  to 
Christ,  in  his  way,  for  cure,  nor  to  purpose  inquire, 
"What  shall  we  do?"  They  must  set  themselves 
down  for  dead  men,  before  they  will  come  unto  Christ 
that  they  may  have  life.  Labor,  therefore,  to  set  all 
thy  sins  in  order  before  thee ;  never  be  afraid  to  look 
upon  them,  but  let  thy  spirit  make  diligent  search. 
Inquire  into  thine  heart,  and  into  thy  life ;  enter  into 
a  thorough  examination  of  thyself  and  all  thy  ways, 
that  thou  mayest  make  a  full  discovery;  and  call  in 
the  help  of  God's  Spirit,  in  the  sense  of  thine  own  ina- 
bility hereunto,  for  it  is  his  proper  work  to  convince 
of  sin.  Spread  all  before  thy  conscience,  till  thy  heart 
and  eyes  be  set  weeping.  Leave  not  striving  with  God 
and  thine  own  soul,  till  it  cry  out  under  the  sense  of 
thy  sins,  as  the  enlightened  jailor,  "What  must  I  do  to 
be  saved  ?"     To  this  purpose, 

Meditate  on  the  number  of  thy  sins.  David's  heart 
failed  when  he  thought  of  this,  and  considered  that  he 
had  more  sins  than  hairs  on  his  head.  This  made  him 
cry  out  upon  the  multitude  of  God's  tender  mercies. 
An  unsannified  soul  swarms  with  filthy  lusts:  they 
fill  tne  head,  the  heart,  the  eyes,  the  mouth.  Look 
backward ;  where  was  ever  the  place,  what  was  ever 
the  time,  in  which  thou  didst  not  sin ?  Look  inward; 
what  part  or  power  canst  thou  find  in  soul  or  body  but 
it  is  poisoned  with  sin  ?  what  duty  dost  thou  ever  per- 


Chap.  VI.]       DIRECTIONS    TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.  Ill 

form,  into  which  this  poison  is  not  shed  ?  O  how  great 
is  the  sum  of  thy  debts,  who  hast  been  all  thy  life  run- 
ning upon  trust,  and  never  didst  or  canst  pay  off  one 
penny  !  Look  over  the  sin  of  thy  nature,  and  all  its 
cursed  brood,  the  sins  of  thy  life.  Call  to  mind  thy 
omissions  and  commissions ;  the  sins  of  thy  thoughts, 
words,  and  actions;  the  sins  of  thy  youth,  and  the  sins 
of  thy  riper  years.  Be  not  like  a  desperate  bankrupt, 
that  is  afraid  to  look  over  his  books.  Read  the  records 
of  conscience  carefully.  These  books  must  be  opened 
sooner  or  later. 

Meditate  on  the  aggravations  of  thy  sins,  as  they  are 
the  grand  enemies  of  the  God  of  thy  life,  and  of  the 
life  of  thy  soul :  in  a  word,  they  are  the  public  enemies 
of  all  mankind.  How  do  David,  Ezra,  Daniel,  and  the 
good  Levites,  aggravate  their  sins,  from  the  considera- 
tion of  their  rebellion  against  God,  their  opposition  to 
his  good  and  righteous  laws,  and  the  mercies  and 
warnings  they  were  committed  against !  O  the  work 
that  sin  has  made  in  the  world !  This  is  the  enemy 
that  has  brought  in  death ;  that  has  robbed  and  en- 
slaved man ;  that  has  done  the  work  of  the  devil,  and 
digged  hell.  This  is  the  enemy  that  has  turned  the 
world  upside  down,  and  sown  dissensions  between  man 
and  the  creatures,  betwixt  man  and  man,  yea,  between 
man  and  himself,  setting  the  animal  part  against  the 
rational,  the  will  against  the  judgment,  lust  against 
conscience ;  yea,  worst  of  all,  between  God  and  man, 
making  the  sinner  both  hateful  to  God  and  the  hater 
of  himself.  O  man!  how  canst  thou  make  so  light  of 
sin  ?  This  is  the  traitor  that  thirsted  for  the  blood  of 
the  Son  of  God,  that  sold  him,  that  mocked  him,  that 
scourged  him,  that  spit  in  his  face,  that  tore  his  hands, 
that  pierced  his  side,  that  pressed  his  soul,  that  man- 


112  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VI. 

gled  his  body,  that  never  left  till  he  had  bound  him, 
condemned  him,  nailed  him,  crucified  him,  and  put 
him  to  an  open  shame.  This  is  that  deadly  poison,  so 
powerful  of  operation  that  one  drop  of  it,  shed  on  the 
root  of  mankind,  has  corrupted,  spoiled,  poisoned,  and 
ruined  his  whole  race.  This  the  bloody  executioner 
that  has  killed  the  prophets,  burnt  the  martyrs,  mur- 
dered all  the  apostles,  all  the  patriarchs,  all  the  kings 
and  potentates ;  that  has  destroyed  cities,  swallowed 
empires,  butchered  and  devoured  whole  nations.  "What- 
ever was  the  weapon  it  was  done  by,  it  was  sin  that 
caused  the  execution.  Dost  thou  yet  think  it  but  a 
small  thing  ?  If  Adam  and  all  his  children  could  be 
dug  out  of  their  graves,  and  their  bodies  piled  up  to 
heaven,  and  an  inquest  were  made  what  matchless 
murderer  were  guilty  of  all  this  blood ;  it  would  be  all 
found  in  sin.  Study  the  nature  of  sin,  till  thy  heart 
incline  to  fear  and  loathe  it ;  and  meditate  on  the  ag- 
gravations of  thy  particular  sins,  how  thou  hast  sinned 
against  all  God's  warnings,  against  thy  own  prayers, 
against  mercies,  against  corrections,  against  clearest 
light,  against  freest  love,  against  thine  own  resolutions, 
against  promises,  vows,  and  covenants  of  better  obe- 
dience. Charge  thy  heart  home  with  these  things  till 
it  blush  for  shame,  and  be  brought  out  of  all  good 
opinion  of  itself. 

Meditate  on  the  desert  of  sin.  It  crieth  up  to  Hea- 
ven ;  it  calls  for  vengeance.  Its  due  wages  are  death 
and  damnation ;  it  draws  the  curse  of  God  upon  the 
soul  and  body.  The  least  sinful  word  or  thought  lays 
thee  under  the  infinite  wrath  of  God.  O  what  a  load 
of  wrath,  what  a  weight  of  curses,  what  treasures  of 
vengeance,  have  all  the  millions  of  thy  sins  deserved  ! 
O  judge  thyself,  that  the  Lord  may  not  judge  thee. 


Chap.   VI.]       DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  !  13 

Meditate  on  the  deformity  and  defilement  of  sin.  It 
is  as  black  as  hell,  the  very  image  and  likeness  of  the 
devil  drawn  upon  the  soul.  1  John,  3  :  8,  10.  It  would 
affright  thee  to  see  thyself  in  the  hateful  deformity  of 
thy  nature.  There  is  no  mire  so  unclean,  no  plague  or 
leprosy  so  noisome  as  sin,  in  which  thou  art  plunged 
and  covered  with  its  odious  filth,  whereby  thou  art 
rendered  more  displeasing  to  the  pure  and  holy  nature 
of  the  glorious  God  than  the  most  filthy  object,  com- 
posed of  whatever  is  hateful  to  all  thy  senses,  can  be 
to  thee.  Couldst  thou  take  up  a  toad  into  thy  bosom? 
Couldst  thou  cherish  it,  and  take  delight  in  it?  Why, 
thou  art  as  contrary  to  the  pure  and  perfect  holiness 
of  the  divine  nature,  and  as  loathsome  as  that  is  to 
thee,  till  thou  art  purified  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  and 
the  power  of  renewing  grace. 

Above  all  other  sins,  fix  the  eye  of  consideration  on 
these  two.  1.  The  sin  of  thy  heart.  It  is  to  little 
purpose  to  lop  off  the  branches  while  the  root  of  cor- 
ruption remains  untouched.  In  vain  do  men  lave  out 
the  streams,  when  the  fountain  is  running  that  fills  up 
all  again.  Let  the  axe  of  thy  repentance  (with  Da- 
vid's) go  to  the  root  of  sin.  Study  how  deep,  how 
close,  how  permanent  is  thy  natural  pollution,  how 
universal  it  is,  till  thou  dost  cry  out,  with  Paul,  upon 
thy  body  as  dead. 

Look  into  all  thy  parts  and  powers,  and  see  what 
unclean  vessels,  what  sinks  they  are  become.  The 
heart  is  never  soundly  broken  till  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  heinousness  of  its  original  and  deep- 
rooted  depravity.  Here  fix  thy  thoughts;  this  is  that 
which  makes  thee  backward  to  all  good,  and  prone  to 
a!I  evil.  That  sheds  blindness,  pride,  prejudice,  and 
unbelief  into  thy  mind  ;  enmity,  inconstancy,  and  ob- 
10* 


114  DIRECTIONS  TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VI. 

stinacy  into  thy  will;  inordinate  heats  and  colds  into 
thy  affections ;  insensibleness  and  unfaithfulness  into 
thy  conscience ;  slipperiness  into  thy  memory ;  and,  in 
a  word,  hath  put  every  wheel  of  the  soul  out  of  order, 
and  made  it,  of  a  habitation  of  holiness,  to  become  a 
very  hell  of  iniquity.  This  is  what  hath  defiled  and 
perverted  all  thy  members,  and  turned  them  into  wea- 
pons of  unrighteousness,  and  servants  of  sin ;  that  hath 
filled  the  head  with  carnal  and  corrupt  designs ;  the 
hand  with  sinful  practices ;  the  eyes  with  wandering 
and  wantonness ;  the  tongue  with  deadly  poison ;  that 
hath  opened  the  ears  to  tales,  flattery,  and  filthy  com- 
munication, and  shut  them  against  the  instructions  of 
life;  and  hath  rendered  thy  heart  the  cursed  source  of 
all  deadly  imaginations,  so  that  it  poureth  out  its  wick- 
edness without  ceasing  even  as  naturally  as  a  fountain 
doth  pour  forth  its  waters,  or  the  raging  sea  doth  cast 
forth  mire  and  dirt.  And  wilt  thou  yet  be  in  love  with 
thyself,  and  tell  us  any  longer  of  thy  good  heart?  O 
never  leave  meditating  on  the  desperate  contagion,  the 
original  corruption  of  thy  heart,  till,  with  Ephraim, 
thou  bemoan  thyself;  and  with  the  deepest  shame  and 
sorrow  smite  on  thy  breast,  as  the  Publican;  and, 
with  Job,  abhor  thyself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes. 
2.  The  particular  evil  that  thou  art  most  addicted  to: 
find  out  all  its  aggravations,  set  home  upon  thy  heart 
all  God's  threats  against  it ;  repentance  drives  before  it 
the  whole  herd,  but  especially  sticks  the  arrow  in  the 
beloved  sin,  and  singles  this  out  above  the  rest,  to  run 
it  down.  O  labor  to  make  this  sin  odious  to  thy  soul, 
and  double  thy  guard  and  resolutions  against  it,  be- 
cause this  doth  most  dishonor  God  and  endanger  thee. 
VIII.  Strive  to  affect  thy  heart  with  a  deep  sense  of 
Ury  present  misery.    Read  over  the  foregoing  chapter 


Chap.  VI.]      DIRECTIONS  TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.  115 

again  and  again,  and  get  it  out  of  the  book  into  thy 
heart.  Remember,  when  thou  liest  down,  that,  for 
aught  thou  knowest,  thou  may  est  awake  in  flames;  and 
when  thou  risest  up,  that  by  the  next  night  thou  may- 
est  make  thy  bed  in  hell.  Is  it  a  just  matter  to  live  in 
such  a  fearful  case,  to  stand  tottering  on  the  brink  of 
the  bottomless  pit ;  and  to  live  at  the  mercy  of  every 
disease,  that,  if  it  but  fall  upon  thee,  will  send  thee 
forthwith  into  the  burnings  ?  Suppose  thou  sawest  a 
condemned  wretch  hanging  over  Nebuchadnezzar's 
turning  fiery  furnace  by  nothing  but  a  thread  which 
ivas  ready  to  break  every  moment,  would  not  thy 
<ieart  tremble  for  such  a  one  ?  Why,  thou  art  the  man : 
this  is  thy  very  case,  O  man,  woman,  that  readest  this, 
if  thou  be  yet  unconverted.  What  if  the  thread  of  thy 
life  should  break,  (why,  thou  knowest  not  but  it  may 
be  the  next  night,  yea,  the  next  moment,)  where 
wouldst  thou  be  then?  Whither  wouldst  thou  drop? 
Verily,  upon  the  breaking  of  this  thread,  thou  fallest 
into  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone,  where 
thou  must  lie  scalding  and  burning  in  a  fiery  ocean 
while  God  hath  a  being,  if  thou  die  in  thy  present 
case.  And  doth  not  thy  soul  tremble  as  thou  readest  ? 
Do  not  thy  tears  bedew  the  paper,  and  thy  heart  throb 
in  thy  bosom  ?  Dost  thou  not  yet  begin  to  smite  on  thy 
breast,  and  bethink  thyself  what  need  thou  hast  of  a 
change?  O  what  is  thy  heart  made  of?  Hast  thou 
not  only  lost  all  regard  to  God,  but  hast  thou  lost  all 
love  and  pity  to  thyself? 

O  study  thy  misery  till  thy  heart  cry  out  for  Christ 
as  earnestly  as  ever  a  drowning  man  did  for  a  boat,  or 
the  wounded  for  a  surgeon.  Men  must  come  to  see 
the  danger  and  feel  the  smart  of  their  deadly  sores  and 
sickness,  or  else  Christ  will  be  to  them  a  physician  of 


116  DIRECTIONS  TO  THE   UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VI. 

no  value.  Then  the  manslayer  hastens  to  the  city  of 
refuge  when  pursued  by  the  avenger  of  blood.  Men 
must  be  even  forced  and  driven  out  of  themselves,  or 
else  they  will  not  come  to  Christ.  It  was  distress  and 
extremity  that  made  the  prodigal  think  of  returning. 
While  Laodicea  thinks  herself  rich,  increased  in  goods, 
in  need  of  nothing,  there  is  little  hope.  She  must  be 
deeply  convinced  of  her  wretchedness,  blindness,  po- 
verty, and  nakedness,  before  she  will  come  to  Christ 
for  his  gold,  raiment,  and  eye-salve.  Therefore  hold 
the  eyes  of  conscience  open,  amplify  thy  misery  as 
much  as  possible,  do  not  flee  the  sight  of  it,  for  fear  it 
should  fill  thee  with  terror.  The  sense  of  thy  misery 
is  but  as  it  were  the  suppuration  of  the  wound,  which 
is  necessary  to  the  cure.  Better  now  to  fear  the  tor- 
ments that  abide  thee,  than  to  feel  them  hereafter. 

IX.  Settle  it  upon  thy  heart  that  thou  must  look  out 
of  thyself  and  away  from  thy  own  doings  for  help. 

Never  think  thy  praying,  reading,  hearing,  confess- 
ing, or  amending  will  do  the  cure;  these  must  be  at- 
tended to,  but  thou  art  undone  if  thou  rest  in  them ; 
thou  art  a  lost  man  if  thou  hope  to  escape  drowning 
on  any  other  plank  but  Jesus  Christ.  Thou  must  un- 
learn thyself,  and  renounce  thine  own  wisdom,  thine 
own  righteousness,  thine  own  strength,  and  throw  thy- 
self wholly  upon  Christ,  as  a  man  that  swims  casts 
himself  upon  the  water,  or  else  thou  canst  not  escape. 
While  men  trust  in  themselves,  and  establish  their  own 
righteousness,  and  have  confidence  in  the  flesh,  they 
will  not  come  savingly  to  Christ.  Thou  must  know 
thy  gain  to  be  but  loss  and  dung,  thy  strength  but 
weakness,  thy  righteousness  rags  and  rottenness,  be- 
fore there  will  be  an  effectual  closure  between  Christ 
and  thee.    Can  the  lifeless  corpse  shake  off  its  grave- 


Chap.  VI.]         DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  117 

clothes,  and  loose  the  bands  of  death  ?  Then  mayest 
thou  recover  thyself,  who  art  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  and  under  an  impossibility  of  serving  thy  Maker 
acceptably  in  this  condition.  Therefore,  when  thou 
goest  to  pray  or  meditate,  or  to  do  any  of  the  duties  to 
which  thou  art  here  directed,  go  out  of  thyself,  call  in 
the  help  of  the  Spirit,  as  despairing  to  do  any  thing 
pleasing  to  God  in  thine  own  strength;  yet  neglect 
not  duty,  put  thyself  in  the  way  of  the  Spirit.  While 
the  eunuch  was  reading,  then  the  Holy  Ghost  did  send 
Philip  to  him.  When  the  disciples  were  praying,  when 
Cornelius  and  his  friends  were  hearing,  then  the  Holy 
Ghost  fell  upon  them  and  filled  them  all. 

X.  Forthwith  renounce  all  thy  sins. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  thou  yield  thyself  to  the  practice 
of  any  sin,  thou  art  undone.  In  vain  dost  thou  hope 
for  life  by  Christ,  except  thou  depart  from  iniquity. 
Forsake  thy  sins,  or  else  thou  canst  not  find  mercy. 
Thou  canst  not  be  married  to  Christ  except  divorced 
from  sin.  Give  up  the  traitor,  or  you  can  have  no 
peace  in  heaven.  Cast  the  head  of  Sheba  over  the 
wall :  keep  not  Delilah  in  thy  lap.  Thou  must  part 
with  thy  sins  or  with  thy  soul;  spare  but  one  sin  and 
God  will  not  spare  thee.  Never  make  excuses ;  thy 
sins  must  die,  or  thou  must  die  for  them.  If  thou  al- 
low of  one  sin,  though  but  a  little,  a  secret  one — though 
thou  mayest  plead  necessity,  and  have  a  hundred  shifts 
and  excuses  for  it,  the  life  of  thy  soul  must  go  for  the 
life  of  that  sin.    And  will  it  not  be  dearly  bought? 

O  sinner!  hear  and  consider:  if  thou  wilt  part  with 
thv  sins  God  will  give  thee  his  Christ.  Is  not  this  a 
fair  exchange  ?  I  testify  unto  you  this  day,  that  if  you 
perish,  it  is  not  because  there  was  never  a  Savior  pro- 
vided nor  life  tendered,  but  because  you  prefer  (with 


118  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  Vf. 

the  Jew)  the  murderer  before  the  Savior,  sin  before 
Christ,  "  and  love  darkness  rather  than  light."  Search 
thy  heart  therefore  with  candles,  as  the  Jews  did  their 
houses  for  leaven  before  the  passover.  Labor  to  find 
out  thy  sins ;  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  consider,  What 
evil  have  I  lived  in  ?  what  duty  have  I  neglected  to- 
ward God  ?  what  sin  have  I  lived  in  against  my  broth- 
er ?  And  now  strike  the  darts  through  the  heart  of 
thy  sin,  as  Joab  did  through  Absalom's.  Never  stand 
looking  upon  thy  sins,  nor  rolling  the  morsel  under 
thy  tongue,  but  cast  it  out  as  poison,  with  fear  and  de- 
testation. Alas !  what  will  thy  sins  do  for  thee,  that 
thou  shouldst  hesitate  to  part  with  them  ?  They  will 
flatter  thee,  but  they  will  undo  thee  and  poison  thee 
while  they  please  thee,  and  arm  the  justice  and  wrath 
of  the  infinite  God  against  thee.  They  will  open  hell 
for  thee,  and  pile  up  fuel  to  burn  thee.  Behold  the 
gibbet  that  they  have  prepared  for  thee !  O  serve  them 
like  Haman,  and  do  upon  them  the  execution  they 
would  else  have  done  upon  thee.  Away  with  them 
crucify  them,  and  let  Christ  only  be  Lord  over  thee 

XI.  Make  a  solemn  choice  of  God  for  thy  portion 
and  blessedness. 

With  all  possible  devotion  and  veneration  avouch 
the  Lord  for  thy  God  :  set  the  world,  with  all  its  glory, 
and  paint,  and  gallantry,  with  all  its  pleasures  and 
promotions,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and  set  God  with  all 
his  infinite  excellences  and  perfections  on  the  other ; 
and  see  that  thou  do  deliberately  make  thy  choice. 
Take  up  thy  rest  in  God.  Sit  thee  down  under  his 
shadow.  Let  his  promises  and  perfections  turn  the 
scale  against  all  the  world.  Settle  it  upon  thy  heart, 
that  the  Lord  is  an  all-sufficient  portion,  that  thou 
eanst  not  be  miserable  while  thou  hast  God  to  live  upon. 


Chap.  VI. J     DIRECTIONS   TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.  119 

Take  him  for  thy  shield  and  exceeding  great  reward. 
God  alone  is  more  than  all  the  world  ;  content  thyself 
with  him.  Let  others  possess  the  preferments  and 
glory  of  the  world ;  place  thou  thy  happiness  in  the 
favor  of  God,  and  in  the  light  of  his  countenance. 

Poor  sinner !  thou  hast  fallen  off  from  God,  and  hast 
engaged  his  power  and  wrath  against  thee;  yet  know, 
that  of  his  abundant  grace  he  doth  offer  to  be  thy  God 
again  in  Christ.  What  sayest  thou,  man  9  wilt  thou 
have  the  Lord  for  thy  God?  Why,  take  this  counsel, 
and  thou  shalt  have  him;  come  to  him  by  his  Christ, 
renounce  the  idols  of  thy  pleasures,  gain,  and  reputa- 
tion, let  these  be  pulled  out  of  their  throne,  and  set 
God's  interest  uppermost  in  thy  heart.  Take  him  as 
God,  to  be  chief  in  thy  affections,  estimations,  and 
purposes ;  for  he  will  not  endure  to  have  any  set  above 
him.  In  a  word,  thou  must  take  him  in  all  his  per- 
sonal relations  and  in  all  his  essential  perfections. 

I.  In  all  his  personal  relations.  God  the  Father 
must  be  taken  for  thy  father.  O  come  to  him  with 
the  prodigal !  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven, 
and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  not  worthy  to  be  called  thy 
son;"  but  since,  of  thy  wonderful  mercy,  thou  art 
pleased  to  take  me,  that  am  of  myself  most  vile,  even 
a  beast  and  no  man  before  thee,  to  be  a  child,  I  so- 
lemnly take  thee  for  my  Father,  commend  myself  to 
thy  care,  and  trust  to  thy  providence,  and  cast  my 
burden  on  thy  shoulders.  I  depend  on  thy  provision, 
and  submit  to  thy  corrections,  and  trust  under  the 
shadow  of  thy  wings,  and  hide  in  thy  chambers,  and 
flee  to  thy  name.  I  renounce  all  confidence  in  my- 
self; I  repose  my  confidence  in  thee;  I  declare  my 
engagement  with  thee  ;  I  will  be  for  thee,  and  not  for 
another.    Again,  God  the  Son  must  be  taken  for  thy 


120  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VT 

Savior,   thy  Redeemer,  and  thy  righteousness.     He 
must  be  accepted,  as  the  only  way  to  the  Father,  and 
the  only  means  of  life.    O  then  put  off  the  raiment  of 
thy  captivity,  put  on  the  wedding  garment,  and  go  and 
marry  thyself  to  Christ.    '  Lord,  I  am  thine,  and  all 
I  have,  my  body,  soul,  and  estate.     I  give  my  heart  to 
thee  ;  I  will  be  thine  undividedly,  thine  everlastingly. 
I  will  set  thy  name  on  all  I  have,  and  use  it  only  as 
thy  goods,  during  thy  leave,  resigning  all  to  thee.    I 
will  have  no  king  but  thee  to  reign  over  me.    Other 
lords  have  had  the  dominion  over  me  :  but  now  I  will 
make  mention  of  thy  name  only,  and  do  here  take  an 
oath  of  fealty  to  thee,  promising  to  serve  and  fear  thee 
above  all  competitors.     I  disavow  mine  own  right- 
eousness, and  despair  of  ever  being  pardoned  and 
saved  for  my  own  duties  or  graces,  and  lean  solely  on 
thy  all-sufficient  sacrifice  and  intercession  for  pardon, 
and  life,  and  acceptance  before  God.    I  take  thee  for 
my  only  guide  and  instructor,  resolving  to  be  directed 
by  thee,  and  to  wait  for  thy  counsel;  for  thine  shall 
be  the  casting  voice  with  me.'     Lastly,  God  the  Spirit 
must  be  taken  for  thy  sanctifier,  for  thy  advocate,  thy 
counsellor,  thy  comforter,  the  teacher  of  thy  ignorance, 
the  pledge  and  earnest  of  thy  inheritance.     "  Awake 
thou  north  wind,  and  come,  thou  south,  and  blow  upon 
my  garden."    "  Come,  thou  Spirit  of  the  Most  High  ; 
here  is  a  temple  for  thee  ;  here  do  thou  rest  for  ever  ; 
dwell  here;  lo,  I  give  up  the  possession  to  thee,  full 
possession ;  I  send  thee  the  keys  of  my  heart,  that  all 
may  be  thine.    I  give  up  the  use  of  all  to  thee,  that 
every  faculty  and  every  member  may  be  th)*-  instru- 
ment to  work  righteousness  and  do  the  will  of  my  Fa- 
ther who  is  in  heaven 
2.  In  all  his  essential  perfections.    Consider  how  the 


Chap.  Vl.]      DIRECTIONS   TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.  12i 

Lord  hath  revealed  himself  to  you  in  his  word.  "Will 
you  take  him  as  such  a  God  %  O,  sinner,  here  is  the 
most  blessed  news  that  ever  came  to  the  sons  of  men  : 
"  The  Lord  will  be  thy  God,"  if  thou  wilt  but  close 
with  him  in  his  excellencies.  Wilt  thou  have  the  mer- 
ciful, the  gracious,  the  sin-pardoning  God  to  be  thy 
God  ?  "  O  yes,"  saith  the  sinner,  "  I  am  undone  else." 
But  the  Father  tells  thee,  I  am  the  holy  and  sin-hating 
God ;  if  thou  wilt  be  owned  as  one  of  my  people,  thou 
must  be  holy — holy  in  heart,  holy  in  life ;  thou  must 
put  away  all  thy  iniquities,  be  they  ever  so  dear,  ever 
so  natural,  ever  so  necessary  to  the  maintaining  thy 
fleshly  interest.  Unless  thou  wilt  be  at  enmity  with 
sin,  I  cannot  be  thy  God.  Cast  out  the  leaven.  "Put 
away  the  evil  of  thy  doings ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn 
to  do  well ;"  else  I  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  thee. 
Bring  forth  mine  enemies,  or  there  is  no  peace  to  be 
had  with  me.  What  doth  thine  heart  answer?  "Lord, 
I  desire  to  have  thee  as  such  a  God ;  I  desire  to  be  ho- 
ly as  thou  art  holy,  and  to  be  made  partaker  of  thy 
holiness.  I  love  thee,  not  only  for  thy  goodness  and 
mercy,  but  for  thy  holiness  and  purity.  I  take  thy  ho- 
liness for  my  happiness :  O  be  to  me  a  fountain  of  ho- 
liness ;  set  on  me  the  stamp  and  impress  of  thy  holi- 
ness: I  will  thankfully  part  with  all  my  sins  at  thy 
command.  My  wilful  sins  I  do  forthwith  forsake;  and 
for  mine  infirmities  that  cleave  unto  me,  though  I 
would  be  rid  of  them,  I  will  strive  against  them  con- 
tinually: I  detest  them,  and  will  pray  against  them, 
and  never  let  them  have  quiet  rest  in  my  soul."  Be- 
loved, whoever  of  you  will  thus  accept  of  the  Lord  for 
his  God,  shall  have  him. 

Again,  he  tells  you,  "I  am  the  all-sufficient  God." 
Will  you  lay  all  at  my  feet,  give  up  all  to  my  disposal, 
11 


122  DIRECTIONS   TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  VI. 

and  take  me  for  your  only  portion  ?  Will  you  own 
and  honor  my  all-sufficiency  ?  Will  you  take  me  as 
your  happiness  and  treasure,  your  hope  and  bliss?  I 
am  a  sun  and  a  shield  all  in  one;  will  you  have  me 
for  your  all  ?  Now  what  dost  thou  say  to  this  ?  Doth 
thy  soul  long  for  the  onions  and  flesh-pots  of  Egypt? 
Art  thou  loth  to  change  thy  earthly  happiness  for  a 
portion  in  God?  and  though  thou  wouldst  be  glad  to 
have  God  and  the  world  too,  yet  canst  thou  not  think 
of  having  him,  and  nothing  but  him  ;  but  hadst  rather 
take  up  with  the  earth  below,  if  God  would  but  let 
thee  keep  it  as  long  as  thou  wouldst  ?  This  is  a  fear- 
ful sign.  But  now,  if  thou  art  willing  to  sell  all  for 
the  pearl  of  great  price;  if  thine  heart  answer,  "Lord, 
I  desire  no  other  portion  but  thee ;  take  the  corn,  and 
the  wine,  and  the  oil  whoso  will,  so  I  may  have  the 
light  of  thy  countenance ;  I  fix  upon  thee  for  my  hap- 
piness; I  gladly  venture  myself  on  thee,  and  trust  my- 
self with  thee ;  I  set  my  hope  in  thee ;  I  take  up  my 
rest  with  thee ;  let  me  hear  thee  say,  I  am  thy  God,  thy 
salvation,  and  I  have  enough,  all  I  wish  for;  I  will 
make  no  terms  with  thee  but  for  thyself;  let  me  but 
have  thee  sure;  let  me  be  able  to  make  my  claim  and 
see  my  title  to  thyself;  and  for  other  things,  I  leave 
them  to  thee;  give  me  more  or  less,  any  thing  or  no- 
thing, I  will  be  satisfied  in  my  God."  Take  him  thus, 
and  he  is  thy  own. 

Again,  he  tells  you,  I  am  the  sovereign  Lord;  if  you 
will  have  me  for  your  God  you  must  give  me  the 
supremacy.  1  will  not  be  an  underling ;  you  must  not 
make  me  a  second  to  sin  or  any  worldly  interest.  If 
you  will  be  my  people  I  must  have  the  rule  over  you  ; 
you  must  not  live  at  your  own  choice.  Will  you  come 
under  my  yoke?    Will  you  bow  to  my  government? 


Chap.  VI.]       DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  123 

Will  you  submit  to  my  discipline,  to  my  word,  to  my 
rod  ?  Sinner,  what  sayest  thou  to  this?  "Lord,  I  had 
rather  be  at  thy  command  than  live  at  my  own  will;  I 
had  rather  have  thy  will  to  be  done  than  mine ;  I  ap- 
prove of  and  consent  to  thy  laws,  and  account  it  my 
privilege  to  lie  under  them.  And  though  the  flesh  re- 
bel, and  often  break  its  bounds,  I  have  resolved  to  take 
no  other  Lord  but  thee.  I  willingly  take  the  oath  of 
thy  supremacy,  and  acknowledge  thee  for  my  Sove- 
reign, and  resolve  all  my  days  to  pay  the  tribute  of 
worship,  obedience,  love  and  service  to  thee,  and  to 
live  to  thee  to  the  end  of  my  life."  This  is  a  right 
acceptance  of  God. 

To  be  short,  he  tells  you,  I  am  the  true  and  faithful 
God.  If  you  will  have  me  for  your  God  you  must  be 
content  to  trust  me.  Will  you  venture  yourselves  upon 
my  word,  and  depend  on  my  faithfulness,  and  take  my 
bond  for  your  security  ?  Will  you  be  content  to  follow 
me  in  poverty,  and  reproach,  and  affliction  here ;  and 
to  see  much  going  out  and  little  corning  in  j  and  to  tarry 
till  the  next  world  for  your  preferment?  I  deal  much 
upon  trust.  Will  you  be  content  to  labor  and  suffer, 
and  to  tarry  for  your  returns  till  the  resurrection  of 
the  just?  My  promise  will  not  always  be  instantly 
fulfilled;  will  you  have  the  patience  to  wait?  Now, 
what  say  you  to  this  ?  Will  you  have  this  God  for 
your  God?  Will  you  be  content  to  live  by  faith,  and 
trust  him  for  an  unseen  happiness,  an  unseen  heaven, 
an  unseen  glory  ?  Do  your  hearts  answer,  "  Lord,  we 
will  venture  ourselves  upon  thee ;  we  commit  our- 
selves to  thee ;  we  cast  ourselves  upon  thee ;  we  know 
whom  we  have  trusted ;  we  are  willing  to  take  thy 
word ;  we  will  prefer  thy  promises  before  our  own 
possessions,  and  the  hopes  of  heaven  before  all  the  en- 


124  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.        |  Chap.  VI. 

joyments  of  the  earth;  we  will  do  thy  pleasure— what 
thou  wilt  here,  so  that  we  may  have  but  thy  faithful 
promise  for  heaven  hereafter."  If  you  can  in  truth, 
and  upon  deliberation,  thus  accept  of  God,  he  will  be 
yours.  Thus  there  must  be,  in  a  right  conversion  to 
God,  a  closing  with  him  suitable  to  his  excellences.. 
But  when  men  close  with  his  mercy,  but  yet  love  sin, 
hating  holiness  and  purity ;  or  will  take  him  for  their 
benefactor,  but  not  for  their  sovereign ;  or  for  their 
patron,  and  not  for  their  portion ;  this  is  no  thorough 
and  sound  conversion. 

XII.  Accept  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  all  his  offices,  as 
thine. 

Upon  these  terms  Christ  may  be  had.  Sinner,  thou 
hast  undone  thyself,  and  art  plunged  into  the  ditch  of 
most  deplorable  misery,  out  of  which  thou  art  never 
able  to  climb  up  ;  but  Jesus  Christ  is  able  and  ready  to 
help  thee,  and  he  freely  tenders  himself  to  thee.  Be 
thy  sins  ever  so  many,  ever  so  great,  or  of  ever  so  long 
continuance,  yet  thou  shalt  be  most  certainly  pardoned 
and  saved,  if  thou  dost  not  wretchedly  neglect  the  of- 
fer that  in  the  name  of  God  is  here  made  to  thee. 
The  Lord  Jesus  calleth  thee  to  look  to  him  and  be 
saved.  "  Come  unto  him,  and  he  will  in  no  wise  cast  thee 
out."  Yea,  he  beseecheth  thee  to  be  reconciled.  He 
crieth  in  the  streets;  he  knocketh  at  thy  door;  he  in- 
viteth  thee  to  accept  of  him,  and  live  with  him.  If 
thou  diest,  it  is  because  thou  wouldst  not  come  to  him 
for  life. 

Now  accept  of  an  offered  Christ,  and  thou  art  made 
for  ever ;  now  give  thy  consent  to  him,  and  the  match 
is  made ;  all  the  world  cannot  hinder  it.  Do  not  stand 
off  because  of  thy  unworthiness.  Man,  I  tell  thee,  no- 
thing in  the  world  can  undo  thee  but  thy  unwilling- 


Cbap.   VI.]      DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  125 

ness.  Speak,  man ;  art  thou  desirous  of  the  honor  ? 
Wilt  thou  have  Christ  in  all  his  relations  to  be  thine; 
thy  king,  thy  priest,  thy  prophet?  Wilt  thou  have  him 
with  all  the  inconveniences?    Take  not  Christ  with- 


Wilt  thou  lay  all  at  his  feet?  Wilt  thou  be  content  to 
run  all  hazards  with  him?  Wilt  thou  take  thy  lot  with 
him,  fall  where  it  will  ?  Wilt  thou  "deny  thyself,  take 
up  thy  cross  and  follow  him?"  Art  thou  deliberately, 
understanding^,  freely  determined  to  cleave  to  him, 
in  all  times  and  conditions?  If  so,  thou  shalt  never 
perish,  but  art  passed  from  death  unto  life.  Here  lies 
the  main  point  of  thy  salvation,  that  thou  be  found  in 
thy  covenant-closure  with  Jesus  Christ ;  and  therefore, 
if  thou  love  thyself,  see  that  thou  be  faithful  to  God 
and  thy  soul  here. 

XIII.  Resign  up  all  thy  powers  and  faculties,  and 
thy  whole  interest  to  be  his. 

"  They  gave  their  own  selves  unto  the  Lord."  "  Pre- 
sent your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice."  The  Lord  seeks 
not  yours,  but  you  ;  resign  therefore  thy  body,  with  all 
its  members,  to  him  ;  and  thy  soul,  with  all  its  powers, 
that  he  may  be  glorified  in  thy  body  and  in  thy  spirit, 
which  are  his. 

In  a  right  closing  with  Christ  all  thy  faculties  give 
themselves  up  to  him.  Thy  judgment  says,  "Lord, 
thou  art  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  chief  of  ten  thou- 
sand :  happy  is  the  man  that  finds  thee.  All  the  things 
that  are  to  be  desired  are  not  to  be  compared  with 
thee."  Prov.  3  :  13-15.  The  understanding  lays  aside 
its  corrupt  reasonings  and  cavils,  and  its  prejudices 
against  Christ  and  his  ways.  It  is  now  past  question- 
ing, and  carries  it  for  Christ  against  all  the  world.  It 
concludes  it  is  "  good  to  be  here,"  and  sees  such  a  trea- 


126  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE   UNCONVERTED.      [Chap.  VI. 

sure  in  this  field,  such  a  value  in  this  pearl,  as  is  worth 
all.  Matt.  13  :  44-46.  "  O  !  here  is  the  richest  bargain 
that  ever  I  made;  here  is  the  richest  prize  that  ever 
man  was  offered ;  here  is  the  most  sovereign  remedy 
that  ever  mercy  prepared ;  he  is  worthy  of  my  esteem, 
worthy  of  my  choice,  worthy  of  my  love,  worthy  to  be 
embraced,  adored,  admired,  for  evermore.  Rev.  5  :  12. 
I  approve  of  his  articles :  his  terms  are  righteous  and 
reasonable,  full  of  equity  and  mercy."  Again,  the  will 
resigns.  It  stands  no  longer  wavering,  nor  wishing, 
but  is  peremptorily  determined :  "  Lord,  thy  love  hath 
overcome  me,  thou  hast  won  me,  and  thou  shalt  have 
me.  Come  in,  Lord ;  to  thee  I  freely  open ;  I  consent  to 
be  saved  in  thine  own  way.  Thou  shalt  have  any 
thing — nay,  have  all,  let  me  have  but  thee."  The  me- 
mory gives  up  to  Christ :  "  Lord,  here  is  a  storehouse 
for  thee;  out  with  this  trash;  lay  in  the  treasure;  let 
me  be  a  repository  of  thy  truth,  thy  promises,  thy  pro- 
vidences." The  conscience  comes  in :  "  Lord,  I  will 
ever  side  with  thee:  I  will  be  thy  faithful  registrar: 
I  will  warn  when  the  sinner  is  tempted,  and  smite 
when  thou  art  offended ;  I  will  witness  for  thee,  and 
judge  for  thee,  and  guide  into  thy  ways,  and  will  never 
let  sin  have  quiet  in  this  soul."  The  affections  also 
come  in  to  Christ :  O,  saith  Love,  "  I  am  sick  for  thee : 
O,  saith  Desire,  now  I  have  my  longing;  here  is  the 
satisfaction  I  sought  for ;  here  is  the  desire  of  nations ; 
here  is  bread  for  me,  and  balm  for  me :  all  that  I  want." 
Fear  bows  the  knee  with  awe  and  veneration :  "  Wel- 
come, Lord,  to  thee  will  I  pay  my  homage :  thy  word 
and  rod  shall  command  my  motions ;  thee  will  I  re- 
verence and  adore ;  before  thee  will  I  fall  down  and 
worship."  Grief  likewise  puts  in:  "Lord,  thy  dis- 
pleasure and  thy  dishonor,  thy  people's  calamities  and 


Chap.  VI.]       DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  127 

my  own  iniquities  shall  be  what  shall  set  me  at  work. 
I  will  mourn  when  thou  art  offended ;  I  will  weep  when 
thy  cause  is  wounded."  Anger  likewise  comes  in  for 
Christ:  "Lord,  nothing  so  enrages  me  as  my  folly 
against  thee,  that  I  should  be  so  besotted  and  bewitch- 
ed as  to  hearken  to  the  flatteries  of  sin  and  the  temp- 
tations of  Satan  against  thee."  Hatred  too  will  side 
with  Christ :  "  I  protest  mortal  enmity  with  thine  en- 
emies, that  I  never  will  be  a  friend  to  thy  foes ;  I  vow 
an  eternal  quarrel  with  every  sin :  I  will  give  no  quar- 
ter; I  will  make  no  peace."  Thus  let  all  thy  powers 
yield  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Again,  thou  must  give  up  thy  whole  interest  to 
him.  If  there  be  any  thing  that  thou  keepest  back 
from  Christ,  it  will  be  thy  undoing.  Luke,  14  :  33. 
Unless  thou  wilt  forsake  all,  (in  preparation  and  re- 
solution of  thy  heart,)  thou  canst  not  be  his  disciple. 
Thou  must  hate  father  and  mother,  yea,  and  thine 
own  life  also,  in  comparison  with  him,  and  as  far 
as  it  stands  in  competition  with  him.  In  a  word, 
thou  must  give  him  thyself,  and  all  that  thou  hast, 
without  reservation,  or  else  thou  canst  have  no  part 
in  him. 

XIV.  "  Make  choice  of  the  laws  of  Christ  as  the 
rule  of  thy  words,  thoughts,  and  actions."  This  is  the 
true  convert's  choice.  But  here  remember  these  three 
rules : — 1.  You  must  choose  them  all,  there  is  no  get- 
ting to  heaven  by  a  partial  obedience.  None  may 
think  it  enough  to  take  up  with  the  cheap  and  easy 
part  of  religion,  and  let  alone  the  duties  that  are  costly 
and  self-denying,  and  oppose  the  interests  of  the  flesh ; 
you  must  take  all  or  none.  A  sincere  convert,  though 
he  makes  most  conscience  of  the  greatest  sins  and 
weightiest  duties,  yet  he  makes  true  conscience  of  little 


i28  DIRECTIONS   TO   THE    UNCONVERTED.       [Chap.  VI. 

sins  and  of  all  duties.  2.  You  must  choose  Christ's 
laws  for  all  times,  for  prosperity  and  adversity,  whether 
it  rain  or  shine.  A  true  convert  is  resolved  in  his 
course ;  he  will  stand  to  his  choice,  and  will  not  set  his 
back  to  the  wind,  and  be  of  the  religion  of  the  times. 
"  I  have  stuck  to  thy  testimonies ;  I  have  inclined  my 
heart  to  perform  thy  statutes  always,  even  to  the  end. 
Thy  testimonies  have  I  taken  as  a  heritage  for  ever.  I 
will  have  respect  to  thy  statutes  continually."  3.  This 
must  not  be  done  carelessly,  but  deliberately  and  un- 
derstandingly.  The  disobedient  son  said,  "I  go,  sir; 
but  he  went  nt)t."  How  fairly  did  they  promise,  "  All 
that  the  Lord  our  God  shall  speak  unto  thee  we  will 
do  it !"  And  it  is  likely  they  spake  as  they  meant. 
But  when  it  came  to  the  trial  it  was  found  that  there 
was  not  such  a  heart  in  them  as  to  do  what  they  had 
promised. 

If  you  would  be  sincere  in  closing  with  the  laws  and 
the  ways  of  Christ,  study  the  meaning,  and  breadth, 
and  extent  of  them.  Remember  that  they  are  spiritual ; 
they  reach  the  very  thoughts  and  inclinations  of  the 
heart  \  so  that,  if  you  will  walk  by  this  rule,  your  very 
thoughts  and  inward  motions  must  be  under  govern- 
ment. Again,  they  are  very  strict  and  self-denying, 
quite  contrary  to  the  grain  of  your  natural  inclinations. 
You  must  take  the  strait  gate,  the  narrow  way,  and  be 
content  to  have  the  flesh  curbed  from  the  liberty  it  de- 
sires. In  a  word,  they  are  very  large,  for  "  thy  com- 
mandments are  exceeding  broad." 

Rest  not  in  generals,  for  there  is  much  deceit  in 
them,  but  bring  down  thine  heart  to  the  particular 
commands  of  Christ.  Those  Jews,  in  the  prophet, 
seemed  as  well  resolved  as  any  in  the  world,  and  called 
God  to  witness  that  they  meant  as  they  said :  but  they 


Chap.   VI.]       DIRECTIONS   TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  129 

stuck  in  generals;  when  God's  command  crosses  their 
inclination,  they  will  not  obey.  Art  thou  resolved,  in 
the  strength  of  Christ,  to  set  upon  the  conscientious 
practice  of  every  duty  that  thou  findest  to  be  there 
required  of  thee,  and  to  set  against  every  sin  that 
thou  findest  there  forbidden  ?  This  is  the  way  to  be 
sound  in  God's  statutes,  that  thou  mayest  never  be 
ashamed. 

Observe  the  special  duties  that  thy  heart  is  most 
against,  and  the  special  sins  that  it  is  most  inclined  to, 
and  see  whether  it  be  truly  resolved  to  perform  the 
one  and  forego  the  other.  What  sayest  thou  to  thy 
bosom-sin,  thy  gainful  sin  ?  What  sayest  thou  to  cost- 
ly, hazardous,  and  flesh-displeasing  duties?  If  thou 
haltest  here,  and  dost  not  resolve  (by  the  grace  of 
God)  to  cross  the  flesh  and  be  in  earnest,  thou  art 
unsound. 

XV.  "  Let  all  this  be  completed  in  a  solemn  cove- 
nant between  God  and  thy  soul."  For  thy  better  help 
therein,  take  these  few  directions. 

Set  apart  some  time,  more  than  once,  to  be  spent  in 
secret  before  the  Lord — in  seeking  earnestly  his  special 
assistance  and  gracious  acceptance  of  thee — in  search- 
ing thy  heart,  whether  thou  art  sincerely  willing  to 
forsake  all  thy  sins,  and  to  resign  up  thyself,  body  and 
soul,  unto  God  and  his  service  ;  to  serve  him  in  holi- 
ness and  righteousness  all  the  days  of  thy  life.  Com- 
pose thy  spirit  into  the  most  serious  frame  possible, 
suitable  to  a  transaction  of  so  high  importance.  Lay 
hold  on  the  convenant  of  God,  and  rely  on  his  promise 
of  giving  grace  and  strength,  whereby  thou  mayest  be 
enabled  to  perform  thy  promise.  Trust  not  to  thine 
own  strength,  to  the  strength  of  thine  own  resolutions : 
but  take  hold  on  his  strength. 


130  A  SHORT   SOLILOQUY.  [diap.  VI. 

XVI.  Take  heed  of  delaying  thy  conversion,  but 
make  a  speedy,  an  immediate  surrender  of  thy  heart 
to  God.  "  I  made  haste,  and  delayed  not."  Remember 
and  tremble  at  the  sad  instance  of  the  foolish  virgins, 
that  came  not  till  the  "  door  of  mercy  was  shut;"  and 
of  a  convinced  Felix,  who  put  off  Paul  to  another  sea- 
son ;  and  we  never  find  that  he  had  such  another  sea- 
son. O  come  in  while  it  is  called  to-day,  lest  thou 
shouldst  be  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin  ; 
lest  the  day  of  grace  should  be  over,  and  the  things 
which  belong  to  thy  peace  should  be  *  hidden  from 
thine  eyes."  Now  mercy  is  inviting  thee;  now  Christ 
is  waiting  to  be  gracious  to  thee,  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  striving  with  thee;  now  ministers  are  calling;  now 
conscience  is  stirring :  now  the  market  is  open,  and 
oil  may  be  had,  thou  hast  opportunity  for  buying. 
Now  Christ  is  to  be  had,  if  accepted.  O  strike  in  with 
the  offers  of  grace  :  now  or  never !  If  thou  make  light 
of  this  offer,  God  may  swear  in  his  wrath,  thou  shalt 
not  taste  of  his  supper. 

A   SHORT   SOLILOQUY. 

What  meanest  thou,  O  my  soul,  to  go  on  thus  ?  art 
thou  in  league  with  hell  ?  hast  thou  made  a  covenant 
with  death?  art  thou  in  love  with  thy  misery?  "Is  it 
good  for  thee  to  be  here?"  Alas!  what  shall  I  do?  shall 
I  go  on  in  my  sinful  ways  ?  Why  then,  certain  damna- 
tion will  be  my  end.  And  shall  I  be  so  besotted  as  to 
go  and  sell  my  soul  to  the  flames  for  a  little  ale  and  a 
little  ease,  for  a  little  pleasure,  or  gain,  or  satisfaction 
to  my  flesh  ?  Shall  I  linger  any  longer  in  this  wretched 
state?  No  ;  if  I  tarry  here  I  shall  die.  What  then  ? 
Is  there  no  help,  no  hope?  None,  except  I  turn.  Why, 


Chap.  VI. J  A   SHORT   SOLILOQUY.  131 

but  is  there  any  remedy  for  such  woful  misery?  any 
mercy,  after  such  provoking  iniquity  ?  Yes,  as  sure  as 
God's  oath  is  true  I  shall  have  pardon  and  mercy  yet, 
if  immediately,  and  unfeignedly,  and  unreservedly 
I  turn  by  Christ  to  him. 

Why,  then,  I  thank  thee  upon  my  bended  knees,  O 
most  merciful  Jehovah  !  that  thy  patience  hath  waited 
for  me  hitherto ;  for,  hadst  thou  taken  me  away  in  this 
estate,  I  had  perished  for  ever.  And  now  I  adore  thy 
grace,  and  accept  the  offers  of  thy  mercy :  I  renounce 
all  my  sins,  and  resolve  by  thy  grace  to  set  myself 
against  them,  and  to  follow  thee  in  holiness  and 
righteousness  all  the  days  of  my  life. 

Who  am  I,  Lord,  that  I  should  make  any  claim  unto 
thee,  or  have  any  part  or  portion  in  thee,  who  am  not 
worthy  to  lick  up  the  dust  of  thy  feet  ?  yet,  since  thou 
holdest  forth  the  golden  sceptre,  I  am  bold  to  come  and 
touch.  To  despair,  would  be  to  disparage  thy  mercy; 
and  to  stand  off  when  thou  biddest  me  to  come,  would 
be  at  once  to  ruin  myself  and  rebel  against  thee,  under 
the  pretence  of  humility.  Therefore  I  bow  my  soul 
to  thee,  and  with  all  possible  thankfulness  accept  thee 
as  mine,  and  give  up  myself  to  thee  as  thine.  Thou 
shalt  be  Sovereign  over  me,  "  my  King  and  my  God :" 
thou  shalt  be  on  the  throne,  and  all  my  powers  shall 
bow  to  thee;  they  shall  come  and  worship  before  thy 
feet.  Thou  shalt  be  my  portion,  O  Lord,  and  I  will 
rest  in  thee. 

Thou  callest  for  my  heart.  O  that  it  were  any  way 
fit  for  thine  acceptance  !  I  am  unworthy,  O  Lord,  ever- 
lastingly unworthy  to  be  thine;  but  since  thou  wilt 
have  it  so,  I  freely  give  up  my  heart  to  thee :  take  it  t 
it  is  thine.  O  that  it  were  better  !  But,  Lord.  I  put  ii 
into  thine  hand,  who  alone  canst  mend  it :   mold  it 


132  A   SHORT   SOLILOQUY.  [Chap.  VI. 

after  thine  own  heart ;  make  it  as  thou  wouldst  have  it, 
holy,  humble,  heavenly,  soft,  tender,  flexible ;  and  write 
thy  law  upon  it. 

"  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly  ;"  enter  in  triumph- 
antly !  take  me  up  to  thee  for  ever:  I  give  up  myself 
to  thee  ;  I  come  to  thee  as  the  only  way  to  the  Father, 
as  the  only  Mediator,  the  means  ordained  to  bring  me 
to  God.  I  have  destroyed  myself,  but  in  thee  is  my 
help;  save,  Lord,  or  else  I  perish!"  I  come  to  thee 
worthy  to  die  and  to  be  damned.  Never  was  the  hire 
more  due  to  the  servant,  never  was  penny  more  due  to 
the  laborer,  than  death  and  hell  (my  just  wages)  are 
due  to  me  for  my  sins.  But  I  flee  to  thy  merits ;  I 
trust  alone  to  the  value  and  virtue  of  thy  sacrifice,  and 
the  prevalence  of  thy  intercession.  I  submit  to  thy 
teaching ;  I  make  choice  of  thy  government.  "  Stand 
open,  ye  everlasting  doors,  that  the  King  of  glory  may 
come  in." 

O  thou  Spirit  of  the  Most  High,  the  comforter  and 
sanctifier  of  thy  chosen  !  come  in  with  all  thy  glorious 
train,  all  thy  courtly  attendants,  thy  fruits  and  graces ; 
let  me  be  thine  habitation ;  I  can  give  thee  only  what 
is  thine  own  already;  but  here,  with  the  poor  widow, 
I  cast  my  two  mites,  my  soul  and  my  body,  into  thy 
treasury,  fully  resigning  them  up  to  thee,  to  be  sancti- 
fied by  thee,  to  be  servants  to  thee.  They  shall  be  thy 
patients ;  cure  thou  their  malady.  They  shall  be  thy 
subjects;  govern  thou  their  motions.  Too  long  have 
I  served  the  world ;  too  long  have  I  hearkened  to  Sa- 
tan ;  but  now  I  renounce  them  all,  and  will  be  ruled 
by  thy  dictates  and  directions,  and  guided  by  thy 
counsel. 

O  blessed  Trinity !  0  glorious  Unity !  I  deliver  up 
myself  to  thee :  receive  me  5  write  thy  name,  0  Lord, 


Chap.  VII.]  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  133 

upon  me,  and  upon  all  that  I  have,  as  thy  property  j 
set  thy  mark  upon  me,  upon  every  member  of  my  bo- 
dy, and  on  every  faculty  of  my  soul.  I  have  chosen 
thy  precepts ;  thy  law  will  I  keep  in  mine  eye,  and 
study  to  follow.  According  to  this  rule  do  I  resolve, 
through  thy  grace,  to  walk;  after  this  law  shall  my 
whole  man  be  governed;  and  though  I  shall  come 
short  in  all  thy  commandments,  yet  I  will  allow  my- 
self in  the  breach  of  none.  I  know  my  flesh  will 
hang  back ;  but  I  resolve,  in  the  power  of  thy  grace, 
to  cleave  to  thee  and  thy  holy  ways,  whatever  it  costs 
me.  I  am  sure  I  cannot  come  off  a  loser  by  thee,  and 
therefore  I  will  be  content  with  reproach,  and  difficul- 
ties, and  hardships  here;  and  will  "deny  myself,  and 
take  up  my  cross,  and  follow  thee."  Lord  Jesus,  thy 
yoke  is  easy,  thy  cross  is  welcome :  as  it  is  the  way  to 
thee,  I  lay  aside  all  hopes  of  worldly  happiness ;  I  will 
be  content  to  tarry  till  I  come  to  thee.  Let  me  be  poor, 
and  low,  and  despised  here,  so  I  may  but  be  admitted 
to  live  and  reign  with  thee  hereafter.  Lord,  thou  hast 
my  heart  and  hand  to  this  agreement :  be  it  as  the  laws 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  never  to  be  reversed.  To 
this  will  I  stand ;  in  this  resolution,  through  grace,  I 
will  live  and  die;  "I  have  sworn,"  and  will  perform 
it,  that  "  I  will  keep  thy  righteous  judgments;"  I  have 
given  my  free  consent;  I  have  made  my  everlasting 
choice :  Lord  Jesus,  confirm  the  contract.    Amen. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CONTAINING   THE    MOTIVES  TO  CONVERSION. 

Though  what  is  already  said  of  the  "necessity  01 
conversion,"  and  of  the  "miseries  of  the  unconverted," 
12 


134  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  [diap.  VIL 

might  be  sufficient  to  induce  any  considerate  mind  to 
resolve  upon  a  present  turning  unto  God ;  yet,  know- 
ing what  a  piece  of  desperate  obstinacy  and  untracta- 
bleness  the  heart  of  man  naturally  is,  and  thinking  it 
therefore  possible,  after  all  that  I  have  said,  some  might 
still  refuse  their  whole  selves  to  the  Lord,  I  have  added 
the  following  motives. 

Lord,  fail  me  not  now,  at  my  last  attempts.  If  any 
soul  hath  read  hitherto,  and  is  yet  untouched,  now, 
Lord,  fasten  on  him,  and  do  thy  work ;  now  take  him 
by  the  heart,  overcome  him,  persuade  him,  till  he  say, 
Thou  hast  prevailed,  for  thou  art  stronger  than  I. 
Lord,  didst  not  thou  make  me  a  fisher  of  men,  and 
have  I  toiled  all  this  while  and  caught  nothing  ?  Alas ! 
that  I  should  have  spent  my  strength  for  naught!  and 
now  I  am  casting  my  last;  Lord  Jesus,  stand  thou  up- 
on the  shore,  and  direct  how  and  where  I  shall  spread 
my  net;  and  let  me  so  enclose  with  arguments  the 
souls  I  seek,  that  they  may  not  be  able  to  get  out. 
Now,  Lord,  for  a  multitude  of  souls !  now  for  a  full 
draught !  O  Lord  God,  remember  me,  I  pray  thee,  and 
strengthen  me  this  once,  O  God. 

But  I  turn  me  unto  you. 

Men  and  brethren,  heaven  and  earth  call  upon  you ; 
yea,  hell  itself  preaches  the  doctrine  of  repentance  un- 
to you ;  the  ministers  of  the  churches  labor  for  you. 
The  angels  of  heaven  wait  for  you,  for  your  repenting 
and  turning  unto  God.  O  sinner,  why  should  the  de- 
vils make  merry  with  thee  ?  why  shouldst  thou  be  a 
morsel  for  that  devouring  leviathan  %  why  should  har- 
pies and  hell-hounds  tear  thee,  and  make  a  feast  upon 
thee ;  and  when  they  have  got  thee  into  the  snare,  and 
have  fastened  their  talons  in  thee,  laugh  at  thy  de- 
struction, and  deride  thy  misery,  and  sport  themselves 


Chap.  VII.]  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  135 

with  thy  ruinous  folly?  This  will  be  thy  case,  except 
thou  turn.  And  were  it  not  better  thou  shouldst  be  a 
joy  to  angels,  than  a  laughing-stock  and  sport  for  de- 
vils? Verily,  if  thou  wouldst  but  come  in,  the  hea- 
venly hosts  would  take  up  their  anthems  and  sing, 
"Glory  be  to  God  in  the  highest  j"  the  morning  stars 
would  sing  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shout  for 
joy,  and  celebrate  this  new  creation  as  they  did  the 
first.  Thy  repentance  would,  as  it  were,  make  a  holi- 
day in  heaven,  and  the  glorious  spirits  would  rejoice, 
in  that  there  is  a  new  brother  added  to  their  society, 
another  heir  born  to  the  Lord,  and  the  lost  son  re- 
ceived safe  and  sound.  The  true  penitent's  tears  are 
indeed  the  wine  that  maketh  glad  both  God  and  man. 
If  it  be  little  that  men  and  angels  would  rejoice  at  thy 
conversion,  know  thou  that  God  himself  would  rejoice 
over  thee,  even  with  singing,  and  rest  in  his  love.  Ne- 
ver did  Jacob  with  such  joy  weep  over  the  neck  of  his 
Joseph,  as  thy  heavenly  Father  would  rejoice  over  thee 
upon  thy  coming  to  him.  Look  over  the  story  of  the 
prodigal.  Methinks  I  see  how  the  aged  father  lays 
aside  his  state  and  forgetteth  his  years;  behold  how 
he  runneth!  O  the  haste  that  mercy  makes!  the  sin- 
ner makes  not  half  that  speed.  Methinks  I  see  how 
his  bowels  move,  how  his  compassions  yearn.  How 
quick  sighted  is  love!  Methinks  I  hear  the  music  at 
a  distance.  O  the  melody  of  the  heavenly  choristers! 
I  cannot  learn  the  song,  Rev.  14 :  3,  but  methinks  I 
overhear  the  burden,  at  which  all  the  harmonious  choir 
with  one  consent  strike  sweetly  in,  being  none  other 
than,  "  For  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ; 
was  lost,  and  is  found."  I  need  not  farther  explain  the 
parable:  God  is  the  father;  Christ  is  the  provision;  his 
righteousness  the  robe;  his  grace  the  ornaments;  min- 


136  MOTIVES  TO   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

isters,  saints  and  angels  the  friends  and  servants;  and 
thou  that  readest  (if  thou  wilt  but  unfeignedly  repent 
and  turn)  the  welcome  prodigal,  the  happy  instance  of 
this  grace,  and  blessed  subject  of  this  joy  and  love ! 
O  rock !  O  adamant ! — what !  not  moved  yet !  not  yet 
resolved  to  turn  forthwith  and  to  close  with  mercy ! 
I  will  try  thee  yet  once  again ;  if  one  were  sent  to  thee 
from  the  dead,  wouldst  thou  be  persuaded?  Why, 
hear  the  voice  from  the  dead,  from  the  damned,  crying 
to  thee  that  thou  shouldst  repent :  "  I  pray  thee  that 
thou  wouldst  send  him  to  my  father's  house,  (for  I 
have  five  brethren,)  that  he  may  testify  to  them,  lest 
they  also  come  into  this  place  of  torment :  if  one  went 
to  them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent."  Hear,  O 
man !  thy  predecessors  in  impenitence  preach  to  thee 
from  the  infernal  world,  from  the  flames,  from  the  rack, 
that  thou  shouldst  repent.  O  look  but  down  into  the 
bottomless  pit;  seest  thou  how  the  smoke  of  their  tor- 
ment ascendeth  for  ever  and  ever !  What  thinkest  thou 
of  those  chains  of  darkness?  Canst  thou  be  content  to 
burn  ?  Seest  thou  how  the  worm  gnaweth,  how  the  fire 
rageth  ?  What  sayest  thou  to  that  gulf  of  perdition  ? 
wilt  thou  take  up  thine  habitation  there  ?  O  lay  thine 
ear  to  the  door  of  hell :  nearest  thou  the  curses  and  blas- 
phemies, the  weepings  and  wailings,  how  they  lament 
their  follies  and  curse  their  day  ?  How  do  they  roar 
and  gnash  their  teeth!  how  deep  their  groans!  how 
inconceivable  their  miseries!  if  the  shrieks  of  Korah, 
Dathan  and  Abiram  were  so  terrible  (when  the  earth 
clave  asunder,  and  opened  its  mouth  and  swallowed 
them  up,  and  all  that  appertained  to  them)  that  all  Is- 
rael fled  at  the  cry  of  them,  O  how  fearful  would  the 
cry  be,  if  God  should  take  off"  the  covering  from  the 
mouth  of  hell,  and  let  the  cry  of  the  damned  ascend 


Chap.  VII.]  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  137 

in  all  its  terror  among  the  children  of  men !  and  of  all 
their  moans  and  miseries  this  is  the  piercing,  killing 
emphasis  and  burden,  "for  ever!  for  ever !" 

Why,  as  God  liveth  that  made  thy  soul,  thou  art  but 
a  few  hours' distant  from  all  this,  except  thou  "repent 
and  be  converted." 

0,  I  am  even  lost  and  swallowed  up  in  the  abun 
dance  of  those  arguments  that  I  might  suggest.  If 
there  be  any  point  of  wisdom  in  all  the  world,  it  is  to 
repent  and  come  in.  If  there  be  any  thing  righteous, 
any  thing  reasonable,  this  is  it.  If  there  be  any  thing 
in  the  world  that  may  be  called  madness  and  folly,  and 
any  thing  that  may  be  counted  sottish,  absurd,  brutish, 
and  unreasonable,  it  is  this,  "to  go  on  in  thine  uncon- 
verted state."  Let  me  beg  of  thee,  as  thou  wouldst 
not  willingly  destroy  thyself,  to  sit  down  and  weigh, 
beside  what  has  been  said,  these  following  motives, 
and  let  conscience  say  if  it  be  not  most  reasonable 
that  thou  shouldst  "repent  and  turn." 

1.  The  God  that  made  thee,  most  graciously  invites 
thee. 

His  most  sweet  and  merciful  nature  invites  thee.  O 
the  kindness  of  God,  his  boundless  compassion,  his  ten- 
der mercies !  As  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth, 
so  are  his  ways  above  our  ways,  and  his  thoughts  above 
our  thoughts.  "  He  is  full  of  compassion,  and  gracious, 
long-suffering,  and  plenteous  in  mercy."  This  is  a 
great  argument  to  persuade  sinners  to  come  in,  "Turn 
unto  the  Lord  your  God ;  for  he  is  gracious  and  mer- 
ciful, slow  to  anger,  of  great  kindness,  and  repenteth 
him  of  the  evil." 

If  God  would  not  repent  of  the  evil,  it  would  be 
some  discouragement  against  our  repenting.  If  there 
12* 


138  MOTIVES  TO   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

were  no  hope  of  mercy,  it  would  be  no  wonder  that 
rebels  should  stand  out ;  but  never  had  subjects  such 
a  gracious  prince,  such  pity,  patience,  and  clemency 
to  deal  with,  as  you  have.  "Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity  ?"  Micah,  7 :  18.  O  sin- 
ners !  see  what  a  God  you  have  to  deal  with :  if  you 
will  but  turn,  "he  will  turn  again,  and  have  compas- 
sion on  you ;  he  will  subdue  your  iniquities,  and  cast 
all  your  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea."  "Return  un- 
to me,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  will  return  unto 
you."  Sinners  do  not  fail  in  that  they  have  too  high 
thoughts  of  God's  mercies,  but  in  that,  1,  They  over- 
look his  justice.  2.  They  promise  themselves  mercy 
out  of  God's  way.  His  mercy  is  beyond  all  imagina- 
tion ;  great  mercies,  manifold  mercies,  Neh.  9: 19,  ten- 
der mercies,  sure  mercies,  everlasting  mercies ;  and  all 
is  thy  own,  if  thou  wilt  but  turn.  Art  thou  willing  to 
come  in?  The  Lord  hath  laid  aside  his  terror  and 
erected  a  throne  of  grace.  He  holds  forth  the  golden 
sceptre:  touch  and  live.  Would  a  merciful  man  slay 
his  enemy  when  prostrate  at  his  feet,  acknowledging 
his  wrong,  begging  pardon,  and  offering  to  enter  with 
him  into  a  covenant  of  peace?  Much  less  will  the 
merciful  God.    Study  his  name. 

His  soul-encouraging  call  and  promises  invite  thee. 
Ah,  what  an  earnest  suitor  is  mercy  to  thee !  how  lov- 
ingly, how  instantly,  it  calleth  after  thee !  how  earnest- 
ly it  wooeth  thee!  "Return,  thou  backsliding  Israel, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  not  cause  my  anger  to  fall 
upon  you ;  for  I  am  merciful,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will 
not  keep  anger  for  ever ;  only  acknowledge  thine  ini- 
quity. Turn,  O  backsliding  children,  saith  the  Lord ; 
return,  and  I  will  heal  thy  backslidings.  Thou  hast 
played  the  harlot  with  many  lovers ;  yet  return  unto 


Chap.  VII.J  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  139 

me,  saith  the  Lord."  "As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God, 
I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  that 
he  turn  from  his  way  and  live.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from 
your  evil  ways ;  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Is- 
rael ?"  "If  the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins  that 
he  hath  committed,  and  keep  all  my  statutes,  and  do 
that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  surely  live,  he 
shall  not  die.  All  the  transgressions  that  he  hath  com- 
mitted they  shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  him ;  in  his 
righteousness  that  he  hath  done,  he  shall  live.  Repent, 
and  turn  you  from  all  your  transgressions :  so  iniquity 
shall  not  be  your  ruin.  Cast  away  from  you  all  your 
transgressions,  and  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new 
spirit ;  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  for  I 
have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth,  saith 
the  Lord  God:  wherefore  turn  yourselves,  and  live  ye." 
O  melting,  gracious  words!  the  voice  of  God,  and 
not  of  a  man !  This  is  not  the  manner  of  men.  for 
the  offended  sovereign  to  sue  to  the  offending  traitor- 
ous rebel.  O  how  doth  mercy  follow  thee,  and  plead 
with  thee!  Is  not  thy  heart  broken  yet?  O  that  "to- 
day you  would  hear  his  voice !" 

II.  The  doors  of  heaven  are  thrown  open  to  thee, 
the  everlasting  gates  are  set  wide  for  thee,  and  an  abun- 
dant entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  administer- 
ed to  thee. 

Christ  now  addresses  thee,  and  calls  upon  thee  to 
arise  and  take  possession  of  this  good  land.  View  the 
glory  of  the  other  world,  as  set  forth  in  the  map  of 
the  Gospel;  get  thee  up  into  Pisgah  of  the  promises, 
and  lift  up  thine  eyes  northward,  and  southward,  and 
eastward,  and  westward,  and  see  the  good  land  that  is 
beyond  Jordan,  and  that  goodly  mountain  ;  behold  the 


140  MOTIVES    TO  CONVERSION.  [Chap.  Vli. 

Paradise  of  God,  watered  with  the  streams  of  glory. 
Arise  and  walk  through  the  land,  in  the  length  of  it, 
and  in  the  breadth  of  it;  for  the  land  which  thou  seest, 
the  Lord  will  give  it  to  thee  for  ever,  if  thou  wilt  but 
return.  Let  me  say  to  thee,  as  Paul  to  Agrippa,  "Be- 
lievestthou  the  prophets?"  If  thou  believest  indeed, 
do  but  view  what  glorious  things  are  spoken  of  the 
city  of  God,  and  know  that  all  this  is  here  tendered  in 
the  name  of  God  to  thee.  As  verily  as  God  is  true,  it 
shall  be  for  ever  thine,  if  thou  wilt  but  thoroughly  turn, 
Behold  the  city  of  pure  transparent  gold,  whose 
foundations  are  garnished  with  all  manner  of  precious 
stones,  whose  gates  are  pearls,  whose  light  is  glory, 
whose  temple  is  God.  Believest  thou  this?  if  thou 
dost,  art  thou  not  worse  than  insane,  that  wilt  not  take 
possession  when  the  gates  are  thrown  open  to  thee, 
and  thou  art  bid  to  enter  ?  O  ye  sons  of  folly,  will  ye 
embrace  the  dunghill  and  refuse  the  kingdom?  Be- 
hold, the  Lord  takes  you  up  into  the  mountain,  shows 
you  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  all  the  glory  thereof, 
and  tells  you,  All  this  will  I  give  you,  if  you  will  but 
return  unto  me ;  if  you  will  submit  to  mercy,  accept 
my  Son,  and  serve  me  in  righteousness  and  holiness. 
"  O  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe !"  Will  you 
seek  and  serve  the  world,  and  neglect  eternal  glory  ? 
What!  not  enter  into  Paradise  when  the  flaming  sword, 
which  was  once  set  to  keep  you  out,  is  now  used  to 
drive  you  in  !  But  you  will  say  I  am  uncharitable,  to 
think  you  infidels  and  unbelievers.  Why,  what  shall 
I  think  of  you  ?  Either  you  are  desperate  unbelievers, 
that  do  not  credit  it,  or  insane,  that  you  know  and  be- 
lieve the  excellence  and  eternity  of  this  glory,  and  yet 
do  so  fearfully  neglect  it.  Surely  you  have  either  no 
faith  or  no  reason,  and  I  had  almost  said  conscience 

sWl  trV,  vrv1  cr>  hnfnrp  T  ]nnyp  top. 


Chap.  VI  I.J  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  141 

Do  but  attend  to  what  is  offered  you :  a  blessed  king- 
dom, a  "kingdom  of  glory,"  a  "kingdom  of  righteous- 
ness," a  "  kingdom  of  peace,"  and  an  "  everlasting  king- 
dom." Here  thou  shalt  dwell,  here  thou  shalt  reign  for 
ever,  and  the  Lord  shall  seat  thee  on  a  throne  of  glory, 
and  with  his  own  hand  shall  set  the  royal  diadem  upon 
thine  head,  and  give  thee  a  crown — not  of  thorns,  for 
there  shall  be  no  sinning  nor  suffering  there — not  of 
gold,  (for  this  shall  be  viler  than  the  dirt  in  that  day,) 
but  a  "crown  of  life,"  a  "crown  of  righteousness,"  a 
"crown  of  glory,"  yea,  "thou  shalt  put  on  glory  as  a 
robe,"  and  shalt  "shine  like  the  sun  in  the  firmament, 
in  the  glory  of  thy  Father."  Look  now  upon  thy 
worthless  flesh.  This  very  flesh,  which  is  mere  dust 
and  ashes,  shall  be  brighter  than  the  stars.  In  short, 
thou  shalt  be  made  like  «nto  the  "angels  of  God,"  and 
"behold  his  face  in  righteousness."  Look  in  now  and 
tell  me,  Dost  thou  yet  believe  ?  if  not,  conscience  must 
pronounce  thee  an  infidel ;  for  it  is  the  very  "  word  of 
God  "  that  I  speak. 

But  if  thou  sayest  thou  believest,  let  me  next  know 
thy  resolution.  Wilt  thou  embrace  this  for  thy  happi- 
ness? Wilt  thou  forego  thy  sinful  gains,  thy  forbid- 
den pleasures'?  Wilt  thou  trample  on  the  world's  es- 
teem, and  stop  thy  ears  to  its  flatteries,  and  wrest  thee 
out  of  its  embraces?  Wilt  thou  be  content  to  take  up 
with  reproach  and  poverty,  if  they  lie  in  the  way  to 
heaven,  and  follow  the  Lord  with  humble  self-denial, 
in  a  mortified  and  flesh-displeasing  life  ?  If  so,  all  is 
thine,  and  that  for  ever. 

And  is  not  the  offer  a  fair  one  ?  Is  it  not  just  that 
he  should  be  damned  that  will  go  on  and  perish,  when 
all  this  may  be  had  by  taking  it?  Wilt  thou  take  God 
it  his  word ;  wilt  thou  let  go  thy  hold  of  the  world. 


142  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

and  rid  thy  hands  of  thy  sins,  and  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life?  If  not,  let  conscience  tell  thee  whether  thou 
art  not  insane,  that  thou  shouldst  neglect  so  happy  a 
choice,  by  which  thou  mightest  be  made  happy  for 
ever. 

III.  God  will  settle  unspeakable  privileges  at  present 
upon  thee. 

Though  the  full  of  your  blessedness  shall  be  de- 
ferred till  hereafter,,  yet  God  will  give  you  no  little 
things  in  hand.  He  will  redeem  you  from  your  thral- 
dom. He  will  pluck  you  from  the  paw  of  the  lion. 
The  serpent  shall  bruise  thy  heel,  but  thou  shalt  bruise 
his  head.  He  shall  deliver  you  from  this  present  evil 
world.  Prosperity  shall  not  destroy  you;  adversity 
shall  not  separate  him  and  you. 

He  will  redeem  you  from  the  power  of  the  grave, 
and  make  the  king  of  terrors  a  messenger  of  peace  to 
you.  He  will  take  out  the  curse  from  the  cross,  and 
make  affliction  the  refining-pot,  the  fan,  the  medicine, 
to  blow  off  the  chaff,  purify  the  metal,  and  cleanse  the 
mind.  He  will  save  you  from  the  arrest  of  the  law, 
and  turn  the  curse  into  a  blessing  to  you.  He  hath  the 
keys  of  hell  and  of  death,  and  shutteth  and  no  man 
openeth,  and  he  will  shut  its  mouth,  as  once  he  did  the 
lions',  that  you  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 

Beside,  he  will  not  only  save  you  from  misery,  but 
install  you  into  unspeakable  prerogatives.  He  will  be- 
stow himself  upon  you ;  he  will  be  a  friend  and  a  fa- 
ther unto  you.  He  will  be  a  sun  and  a  shield  to  you. 
In  a  word,  he  will  be  a  God  to  you.  And  what  can  be 
said  more  ?  What  may  you  expect  that  a  God  should 
do  for  you,  and  be  to  you?  that  he  will  be,  that  he  will 
do.    She  that  marries  a  prince  expects  he  should  do 


Chap.  VII.]  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  143 

for  her  like  a  prince,  that  she  may  live  in  a  suitable 
state,  and  have  an  answerable  dowry :  he  that  hath  a 
king  for  his  father  or  a  friend,  expects  he  should  do  foi 
him  like  a  king.  Alas !  the  kings  and  monarchs  of  the 
earth,  so  much  above  you,  are  but  like  the  painted  but- 
terflies amongst  the  rest  of  their  kind,  or  the  fair  co- 
lored palmer-worm  amongst  the  rest  of  the  worms,  if 
compared  with  God.  As  he  does  infinitely  exceed  the 
glory  and  power  of  his  glittering  dust,  so  he  will,  be- 
yond all  proportion,  exceed  in  doing  for  his  favorites 
whatever  princes  can  do  for  theirs.  He  will  "give  you 
grace  and  glory,  and  withhold  no  good  thing  from 
you."  He  will  take  you  for  his  sons  and  daughters, 
and  make  you  heirs  of  his  promises,  and  establish  his 
everlasting  covenant  with  you.  He  will  justify  you 
from  all  that  law,  conscience,  and  Satan  can  charge 
upon  you.  He  will  give  you  free  access  into  his  pre- 
sence, and  accept  your  person,  and  receive  your  prayers. 
He  will  abide  in  you,  and  hold  a  constant  and  friendly 
communion  with  you.  His  ear  shall  be  open,  his  door 
open,  his  store  open,  at  all  times  to  you.  His  blessing 
shall  rest  upon  you,  and  he  will  make  your  enemies  to 
serve  you,  and  work  out  "  all  things  for  good  unto 
you." 

IV.  The  terms  of  mercy  are  brought  as  low  as  pos- 
sible to  you.  God  has  stooped  as  low  to  sinners  as 
with  honor  he  can.  He  will  not  be  an  author  of  sin, 
nor  stain  the  glory  of  his  holiness  :  and  how  could  he 
come  lower  than  he  has,  unless  he  should  do  this? 

God  does  not  impose  any  thing  unreasonable  or  im- 
possible, as  a  condition  of  life,  upon  you.  Two  things 
were  necessary  to  be  done,  according  to  the  tenor  of 
the  first  covenant.     1.  That  we  should  fully  satisfy 


144  MOTIVES  TO  CONVERSION.  [Chap.  VII 

the  demands  of  justice  for  past  offences.  2.  That  we 
should  perform  personally,  perfectly,  and  perpetually, 
the  whole  law  for  the  time  to  come.  By  our  sins  we 
render  salvation  through  either  of  these  ways  impossi- 
ble. But,  behold  God's  gracious  provision  in  both. 
He  does  not  insist  upon  your  satisfaction :  he  is  con- 
tent to  take  of  the  Surety  (and  he  of  his  own  pro- 
viding too)  what  he  might  have  exacted  from  you. 
"All  things  are  of  God,  who  hath  reconciled  us  te 
himself  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  hath  given  to  us  the  min 
istry  of  reconciliation  3  to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their 
trespasses  unto  them ;  and  hath  committed  unto  us  the 
word  of  reconciliation."  He  declares  himself  to  have 
received  a  ransom ;  and  that  he  expects  nothing  but 
that  you  should  accept  his  Son,  "who  of  God  is  made 
unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification, 
and  redemption;"  and  he  shall  be  righteousness  and 
redemption  to  you;  "who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  that  we,  being  dead  to  sin, 
should  live  unto  righteousness."  If  therefore  you 
come  in  his  Christ,  and  set  your  heart  to  please  him, 
making  this  your  chief  concern,  he  wiii  graciously  ac- 
cept, and  even  reward  you,  though  your  obedience  be 
not  perfect. 

O  consider  the  condescension  of  your  God ;  let  me- 
say  to  you,  as  Naaman's  servants  to  him,  "My  father, 
if  the  prophet  had  bid  thee  do  some  great  thing,  would 
you  not  have  done  it?  How  much  rather  when  he 
says  to  thee,  Wash  and  be  clean!"  If  God  had  de- 
manded some  terrible,  some  severe  and  rigorous  thing 
of  you,  to  escape  eternal  damnation,  would  you  not 
nave  done  it?  Suppose  it  had  been  to  spend  all  your 
days  in  sorrow  in  some  howling  wilderness,  or  to 


Chap.  VII.J  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  145 

a  offer  the  fruit  of  your  bodies  for  the  sin  of  your 
souis,"  would  you  not  have  thankfully  accepted  eter- 
nal redemption,  though  these  had  been  the  conditions? 
Nay,  farther,  if  God  should  have  told  you  that  you 
should  have  burned  in  the  fire  for  millions  of  ages,  or 
been  so  long  tormented  in  hell,  would  you  not  have 
gladly  accepted  it?  Alas!  all  these  are  not  so  much 
as  one  grain  of  sand  in  the  glass  of  eternity.  If  your 
offended  Creator  should  have  holden  you  but  one  year 
upon  the  rack,  and  then  bidden  you  come  and  forsake 
your  sins,  accept  Christ,  and  serve  him  a  few  years  in 
self-denial,  or  lie  in  this  case  for  ever  and  ever ;  do  you 
think  you  should  have  hesitated  at  the  offer,  and  dis- 
puted the  terms,  and  have  been  unresolved  whether  you 
were  to  accept  of  the  proposal  ?  O  sinner,  return  and 
live;  why  shouldst  thou  die  when  life  is  to  be  had  for 
taking,  when  mercy  seems  beholden  to  thee  (as  it  were) 
to  be  saved?  Couldst  thou  say,  "Lord,  I  knew  thee, 
that  thou  wast  a  hard  man,"  even  then  thou  wouldst 
have  had  no  excuse ;  but  when  the  God  of  heaven  has 
stooped  so  low,  and  condescended  so  far,  if  still  thou 
shouldst  stand  off,  who  shall  plead  for  thee? 

Object.  Notwithstanding  all  the  advantages  of  this 
new  covenant,  I  am  unable  to  repent  and  believe,  and 
so  comply  with  its  conditions. 

Ans.  Dare  you  thus  charge  your  impenitency  and 
unbelief  upon  God?  Your  ability  is  sufficient  to  ren- 
der it  your  duty  to  repent  without  delay.  But  let  the 
next  consideration  serve  for  a  fuller  answer. 

V.  God  doth  offer  all  needed  grace  to  enable  you. 

"I  have  stretched  out  mine  hand,  and  no  man  re 
garded."  What  though  you  are  plunged  into  the  ditch 
of  that  misery  from  which  you  can  never  get  out? 
13 


H6  MOTIVES   TO   CONVERSION.  [Chap.  Vil. 

Christ  offereth  to  help  you  out;  he  rcacheth  out  his 
hand  to  you;  and  if  you  perish,  it  is  for  refusing  his 
help.  "  Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock ;  if  any 
man  open  to  me  I  will  come  in."  What  though  you 
are  poor,  and  wretched,  and  blind,  and  naked  1  Christ 
offereth  a  cure  for  your  blindness,  a  covering  for  your 
nakedness,  a  remedy  for  your  poverty  ;  he  tenders  you 
his  righteousness,  his  grace :  "I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of 
me  gold,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich ;  and  white  raiment, 
that  thou  mayest  be  clothed ;  and  anoint  thy  eyes  with 
eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see."  Do  you  say,  The 
condition  is  impossible ;  for  I  have  not  wherewith  to 
buy?  You  must  know  that  this  buying  is  "without 
money  and  without  price."  This  buying  is  by  beg- 
ging and  seeking  with  your  whole  heart.  God  com- 
mandeth  thee  to  know  him,  and  to  fear  him.  Dost 
thou  say,  Yea,  but  my  mind  is  blinded,  and  my  heart 
is  hardened  from  his  fear?  I  answer,  God  doth  offer 
to  enlighten  thy  mind,  and  to  teach  thee  this  fear  that 
is  presented  to  thy  choice.  So  that  now,  if  men  live 
in  ignorance  and  estrangement  from  the  Lord,  it  is  be- 
cause they  will  not  understand  and  desire  the  know- 
ledge of  his  ways.  "If  thou  criest  after  knowledge,  if 
thou  seekest  her  as  silver,  &c.  then  shalt  thou  under- 
stand the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the  knowledge  of 
God."  Is  not  here  a  fair  offer?  "Turn  ye  at  my  re- 
proof; behold  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  unto  you." 
Though  of  yourselves  you  can  do  nothing,  yet  you  may 
do  all  through  his  Spirit  enabling  you,  and  he  offer? 
assistance  to  you.  God  bids  you  "  wash  and  make  you 
clean."  You  say  you  are  unable,  as  much  as  the  leo- 
pard to  wash  out  his  spots.  Yea,  but  the  Lord  doth 
offer  to  purge  you;  so  that  if  you  are  filthy  still,  it  is 
through  your  own  wilfulness,  "I  have  purged  thee, 


Chap.  VII.]  QUESTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  147 

and  thou  wast  not  purged."  "O  Jerusalem,  wilt  thou 
not  be  made  clean ?  When  shall  it  once  be?"  God 
doth  invite  you  to  be  made  clean,  and  entreat  you  to 
yield  to  his  proposals ;  accept  of  his  offers,  and  let  him 
do  for  you,  and  in  you,  what  you  cannot  do  for  your- 
selves. 


SIX   QUESTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED. 

Q.  1.  IVhat  is  my  state  by  nature?  Is  it  not  a  state 
of  death?  Eph.  2:1.  A  state  of  wrath  ?  ver.  3.  Sirs, 
awake,  and  bethink  yourselves  where  you  are,  and 
whither  you  are  going.  "While  you  are  in  your  natu- 
ral, unconverted,  unbelieving  state,  all  your  sins  are 
unpardoned,  and  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  you. 
Suppose  you  saw  a  poor  creature  hanging  over  a 
burning  fiery  furnace  by  nothing  but  a  slender  thread, 
like  to  break  every  moment,  would  not  your  hearts 
ache  for  such  a  one  ?  Sirs,  it  is  your  very  case  ;  you 
hang  over  the  infernal  burnings  by  nothing  but  the 
small  thread  of  your  lives,  while  you  know  not  but  it 
may  break  the  next  moment,  and  then  where  are 
you  ?  Is  this  a  case  for  you  to  go  on  contentedly  and 
merrily  in  ? 

Q.  2.  What  conditio?!  is  my  soul  now  in  ?  Am  I 
changed  and  renewed  by  conversion,  or  am  I  not  ? 
Speak,  conscience ;  hath  this  man,  this  woman,  this 
child,  been  soundly  and  savingly  changed,  both  in 
heart  and  life  ?  Where  are  your  evidences  ?  Can 
you  show  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus  upon  your 
souls?  Let  conscience  answer.  Where  was  the 
place  ?  what  were  the  means  ?  when  was  the  time 
that  your  soul  was  thoroughly  renewed  ?  At  least,  if 
you  cannot  show  the  time,  place,  or  means,  can  you 


148  QUESTIONS    TO   'I  HE    UNCONVERTED.        [Chap.  VII. 

prove  the  thing  ?  Can  you  say  with  him  that  was 
born  blind,  One  thing  I  know,  that  whereas  1  was 
blind,  I  now  see?  Sirs,  be  not  deceived;  I  tell  you, 
whatever  you  do,  nothing  will  avail  you  to  salvation, 
except  you  be  new  creatures. 

Q.  3.  What  if  I  should  lose  my  soul  ?  liTiat  sad 
work  should  Imake  of  it  then  ?  This  is  very  possible ; 
yea,  it  is  the  case  of  the  most.  There  are  but  few  of 
the  children  of  men  that  escape  safe  to  heaven.  Sirs, 
beware  of  your  danger,  and  fear,  lest  a  promise  being 
left  of  entering  into  rest,  any  of  you  should  at  last 
come  short  of  it.  Suppose  a  man  were  to  travel 
through  some  perilous  wood  or  wilderness,  having 
but  one  jewel  in  all  the  world,  in  which  his  all  was 
bound  up,  and  should  see  some  stand  on  one  hand  and 
some  on  the  other,  and  hear  one  company  in  this  place 
and  another  in  that  cry  out  under  the  hands  of  some 
cruel  robbers ;  0,  in  what  fear  would  this  traveler 
go  lest  he  should  lose  this  jewel,  and  be  robbed  of  all 
at  once !  Why,  thou  art  the  man ;  this  traveler  is 
thyself;  this  jewel  is  thy  soul;  this  wilderness  or 
wood  is  this  world  thou  art  to  travel  through  :  swarms 
of  sins,  legions  of  devils,  and  a  whole  world  of  temp- 
tations— these  are  the  robbers  that  lie  in  wait  for  thy 
soul ;  and  if  all  that  these  can  do  can  keep  thee  out 
of  heaven,  thou  shalt  never  enter  there.  O  !  what  ir 
thy  pride  or  worldliness,  thy  delays  and  triflings  in 
religion  should  at  last  betray  thy  soul  into  the 
robbers'  hands  ?  Other  losses  may  be  repaired  ;  but 
thy  soul  being  once  lost,  God  is  lost,  Christ  is  lost, 
heaven  is  lost,  all  lost  for  evermore. 

Q.  4.  What  am  I  doing  for  my  soul  ?  What ! 
have  I  a  soul,  an  immortal  soul  to  care  for,  and  look 
no  better  after  it,  and  bestow  no  more  of  my  time  or 


Chap.  VII.]       QUESTIONS    TO    THE    UNCONVERTED.  149 

pains  upon  it,  no  more  of  my  thoughts  about  it  ? 
When  Augustus  the  emperor  saw  the  outlandish  wo- 
men carrying  apes  and  such  kind  of  strange  creatures 
in  their  arms,  he  asked,  What !  have  the  women  in 
these  countries  no  children?  So  it  may  be  said  of 
many  among  us,  that  are  early  and  late  at  their  worldly 
business,  but  let  the  care  of  religion  lie  by  neglected, 
What  !  have  these  men  no  souls ?  Why,  man  !  hast 
thou  a  soul,  and  yet  dost  so  little  in  thy  closet,  so  little 
in  thy  family,  from  day  to  day,  for  it?  What  meanest 
thou,  O  sleeper?  Arise,  call  upon  thy  God,  that  thou 
perish  not.  What  will  become  of  thy  soul  if  thou 
lookest  to  it  only  at  this  careless  rate  ? 

Q.  5.  What  if  God  should  this  night  require  my 
soul,  where  would  death  land  me  ?  There  was  one 
that  promised  himself  many  merry  days  and  years,  as 
it  is  likely  thou  dost,  but  that  same  night  God  called 
for  his  soul.  Sirs,  are  you  prepared  ?  Are  you  fit  to 
die  ?  O  dare  not  to  live  in  such  a  case,  nor  in  that 
course  in  which  you  would  not  dare  to  die. 

Q.  6.  Should  I  not  be  in  a  happy  case,  if  I  had 
but  secured  my  soid  ?  O  if  this  were  but  once  done, 
how  sweetly  mightest  thou  live  !  Then  thou  mightest 
eat  thy  bread  and  drink  thy  wine  with  a  merry  heart, 
when  assured  that  God  accepteth  thee  and  thy  works. 
Then  thou  mightest  lie  down  in  peace,  rise  up  in  peace, 
and  go  out  in  peace.  Then  thou  mightest  look  death 
in  the  face,  thou  mightest  look  dangers  in  the  face,  yea, 
look  devils  in  the  face,  and  never  be  afraid.  Go  then 
to  Christ,  seek  the  pardon  of  your  sins  through  his 
death,  commit  your  soul  into  his  hands,  believe  in 
him,  and  then  this  happiness  shall  be  yours  :  but  go,  I 
beseech  you,  without  delay. 


13" 


150  CONCLUSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

CONCLUSION. 

And  now,  to  conclude,  let  me  know  your  mind; 
what  do  you  intend  to  do  ?  Will  you  go  on  and  die, 
or  will  you  immediately  turn  and  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life?  How  long  will  ye  linger  in  Sodom?  "How 
long  will  ye  halt  between  two  opinions  ?"  Have  you 
not  yet  resolved  whether  Christ  or  Barabbas,  whether 
bliss  or  torment,  whether  this  vain  and  wretched 
world  or  the  paradise  of  God  be  the  better  choice  ? 
Is  it  a  disputable  case  whether  the  Abana  and  Pharpar 
of  Damascus  be  better  than  all  the  streams  of  Eden  ; 
or  whether  the  vile  puddle  of  sin  is  to  be  preferred 
before  the  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding 
out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ?  Can  the 
world  in  good  earnest  do  that  for  you  which  Christ 
can  ?  Will  it  stand  by  you  to  eternity  ?  Will  plea- 
sures, land,  titles  and  treasures  descend  with  you  ?  If 
:iot,  had  you  not  need  look  after  somewhat  that  will  ? 
What  mean  you  to  stand  wavering,  to  be  off  and  on? 
Shall  I  leave  you  at  last,  like  Agrippa,  no  further  than 
almost  persuaded  ?  WThy,  you  are  for  ever  lost  if  left 
here !  as  good  be  not  at  all,  as  not  altogether  Chris- 
tians. You  are  half  in  mind  to  give  over  your  former 
negligent  life,  and  set  to  a  strict  and  holy  course ; 
you  could  wish  you  were  as  some  others  are,  and 
could  do  as  they  can  do.  How  long  will  you  rest  in 
idle  wishes  and  fruitless  purposes  ?  When  will  you 
come  to  a  fixed,  firm,  and  full  resolve  ?  Do  not  you 
see  how  Satan  cheats  you  by  tempting  you  to  delays  ? 
How  long  hath  he  drawn  you  on  in  the  way  of  perdi 
lion?  How  many  years  have  you  been  purposing 
10  mend  ?  What  if  God  should  have  taken  you  off  all 
this  while. 


Chap.  VII.]  conclusion.  151 

Well,  put  me  not  off  with  a  dilatory  answer ;  tell 
me  not  of  hereafter ;  I  must  have  your  immediate 
consent ;  if  you  be  not  now  resolved,  while  the  Lord 
is  treating  with  you  and  inviting  you,  much  less  are 
you  like  to  be  hereafter,  when  these  impressions  are 
worn  out,  and  you  are  hardened  through  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  sin.  Will  you  give  me  your  hand  ?  Will  you 
set  open  the  door  and  give  the  Lord  Jesus  the  full  and 
ready  possession?  Will  you  put  your  name  unto  his 
covenant  ?  What  do  you  resolve  upon  ?  If  you  still 
delay,  my  labor  is  lost,  and  all  is  likely  to  come  to  no- 
thing. Come,  cast  in  your  lot ;  make  your  choice. 
"  Now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  now  is  the  day  of  salva- 
tion :  to-day,  if  you  will  hear  his  voice."  Why 
should  not  this  be  the  day  whence  thou  shouldst  be 
able  to  date  thy  happiness?  Why  shouldst  thou 
venture  a  day  longer  in  this  dangerous  and  dreadful 
condition?  What  if  God  should  this  night  require 
thy  soul  ?  "  O  that  thou  mightest  know  in  this  thy 
day  the  things  that  belong  to  thy  peace,  befoie  they 
be  hid  from  thine  eyes !  This  is  thy  day,  and  it  is 
but  a  day.  Others  have  had  their  day,  and  have  re- 
ceived their  doom  and  now  art  thou  brought  upon 
the  stage  of  this  world,  here  to  act  thy  part  for  the 
whole  of  eternity.  Remember  thou  art  now  upon 
thy  good  behavior  for  everlasting;  if  thou  make  not  a 
wise  choice  now,  thou  art  undone  for  ever.  Look 
what  thy  present  choice  is ;  such  must  thine  eternal 
condition  be. 

And  is  it  true  indeed  ?  Are  life  and  death  at  thy 
choice  ?  Why  then,  what  hinders  but  th?.t  thou 
shouldst  be  happy  ?  Nothing  doth  or  can  hinder  but 
thine  own  willful  neglect  or  refusal.  It  was  the  remark 
of  the  eunuch  to  Philip  :  "  See,  here  is  water ;  what 


152  CONCLUSION.  [Chap.  VII 

doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  V  So  I  may  say  to 
thee,  See,  here  is  Christ,  here  is  mercy,  pardon,  life; 
what  hinders  but  that  thou  shouldst  be  pardoned  and 
saved  ?  One  of  the  martyrs,  as  he  was  praying  at  the 
stake,  had  his  pardon  set  by  him  in  a  box,  which  indeed 
he  refused  rightly,  because  upon  unworthy  terms ;  but 
here  the  terms  are  most  honorable  and  easy,  O  sin- 
ner !  wilt  thou  burn  with  thy  pardon  by  thee  ?  do  but 
forthwith  give  up  thy  consent  to  Christ  to  renounce 
thy  sins,  deny  thyself,  take  up  the  yoke  and  the  cross 
and  thou  carriest  the  day ;  Christ  is  thine  ;  pardon, 
peace,  life,  blessedness  are  all  thine.  And  is  not  this 
an  offer  worth  embracing  ?  Why  shouldst  thou  hesi- 
tate or  doubtfully  dispute  about  the  case?  Is  it  not 
past  controversy  whether  God  be  better  than  sin,  and 
glory  than  vanity  ?  Why  shouldst  thou  forsake  thy  own 
mercy,  and  sin  against  thy  own  life  ?  When  wilt  thou 
shake  off  thy  sloth,  and  lay  by  thine  excuses  ?  "  Boast 
not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  thou  knowest  not"  where 
this  night  may  lodge  thee. 

Now  the  Holy  Spirit  is  striving  with  you  ;  he  will 
not  always  strive.  Hast  thou  not  felt  thine  heart 
aroused  by  the  word,  and  been  almost  persuaded  to 
leave  off  thy  sins  and  come  to  Christ  ?  Hast  thou  not 
feit  some  motions  in  thy  mind,  wherein  thou  hast 
been  warned  of  thy  danger,  and  told  what  thy  care- 
less course  would  end  in  1  It  may  be  thou  art  like 
young  Samuel,  who,  when  the  Lord  called  once  and 
again,  knew  not  the  voice  of  the  Lord ;  but  these 
motions  and  desires  are  the  offers,  and  essays,  and 
callings,  and  strivings  of  the  Spirit.  O  take  advantage 
of  the  tide,  and  know  the  day  of  thy  visitation. 

Now  the  Lord  Jesus  stretcheth  wide  his  arms  to 
receive  you  ;  he  beseecheth  you  by  us.  How  movingly 


Chap.  VII. J  conclusion.  153 

how  'meltingly,  how  compassionately  he  calleth  !  the 
church  is  put  into  a  sudden  ecstacy  at  the  sound  of 
his  voice,  "  the  voice  of  my  beloved."  O  wilt  thou 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  his  voice  ?  Is  it  not  the  voice  that 
breaketh  the  cedars,  and  maketh  the  mountains  to  skip 
like  a  calf?  that  shaketh  the  wilderness,  and  divideth 
the  flames  of  fire  ?  It  is  not  Sinai's  thunder,  but  a 
soft  and  still  voice.  It  is  not  the  voice  of  Mount  Ebal, 
a  voice  of  cursing  and  terror,  but  the  voice  of  Mount 
Gerizim,  the  voice  of  blessing  and  glad  tidings  of  good 
things.  It  is  not  the  voice  of  the  trumpet  nor  the 
voice  of  war,  but  a  message  of  peace  from  the  King  of 
peace.  I  may  say  to  thee,  O  sinner,  as  Martha  to  her 
sister,  "  The  Master  is  come,  and  he  calleth  for  thee," 
Now  then,  with  Mary,  arise  quickly  and  come  unto 
him.  How  sweet  are  his  invitations !  He  crieth  in 
the  open  concourse,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come 
unto  me  and  drink."  How  bountiful  is  he  !  He  ex- 
cludeth  none.  "  Whosever  will,  let  him  come  and 
take  the  water  of  life  freely."  "  Whoso  is  wise,  let 
him  turn  in  hither.  Come,  eat  of  my  bread,  and 
drink  of  the  wine  that  I  have  mingled.  Forsake  the 
foolish  and  live."  "  Come  unto  me,  take  my  yoke 
upon  you,  and  learn  of  me,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to 
your  souls."  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out."  How  doth  he  bemoan  the  obstinate 
refuser  !  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem  !  how  often  would 
I  have  gathered  thy  children  as  a  hen  gathereth  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !"  "  Be- 
hoLi  me,  behold  me  !  I  have  stretched  out  my  hands 
all  th°.  day  to  a  rebellious  people."  0  be  persuaded 
now  at  last  to  throw  yourselves  into  the  arms  of  hi? 
love. 

Bene! J,  0  ye  sons  of  men,  the  Lord  Jesus  hath 


154  conclusion.  [Chap.  VII. 

thrown  open  the  prison,  and  now  he  cometh  to  you 
by  his  ministers,  and  beseecheth  you  to  come  out.  If 
it  were  from  a  palace  or  paradise  that  Christ  did  call 
you,  it  were  no  wonder  that  you  were  unwilling ; 
(and  yet  how  easily  was  Adam  tempted  thence  !)  but 
it  is  from  your  prison,  from  your  chains,  from  the 
dungeon,  from  the  darkness,  that  he  calleth  you,  and 
yet  will  you  not  come  ?  He  calls  you  unto  liberty, 
and  yet  will  you  not  hearken  ?  His  yoke  is  easy,  his 
laws  are  liberty,  his  service  is  freedom,  and  (whatever 
prejudice  you  have  against  his  ways)  if  God  may  be 
believed,  you  shall  find  them  all  pleasure  and  peace, 
and  shall  taste  sweetness  and  joy  unutterable,  and 
take  infinite  delight  and  felicity  in  them. 

Sinners,  I  cannot  tell  how  to  give  you  over.  I  am 
now  ready  to  close,  but  I  would  see  a  covenant  made 
between  Christ  and  you  before  I  end.  What !  shall  I 
leave  you  at  last  as  I  found  you  ?  Have  you  read 
hitherto,  and  not  yet  resolved  immediately  to  abandon 
all  your  sins  and  to  close  with  Jesus  Christ  1  Alas  ! 
what  shall  I  say  ?  what  shall  I  do  ?  Will  you  turn 
off  all  my  importunity  ?  Have  I  run  in  vain  ?  Have 
I  used  so  many  arguments,  and  spent  so  much  time 
to  persuade  you,  and  must  I  sit  down  at  last  in  dis- 
appointment ?  But  it  is  a  small  matter  that  you  turn 
me  off ;  you  put  a  slight  upon  the  God  that  made  you  ; 
you  reject  the  compassion  and  beseechings  of  a  Savior, 
and  will  be  found  resisters  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  if  you 
will  not  now  be  prevailed  upon  to  repent  and  be  con- 
verted. 

Well,  though  I  have  called  you  long,  and  you  have 
refused,  I  shall  yet  this  once  more  lift  up  my  voice 
like  a  trumpet,  and  cry  from  the  highest  places  of  the 
city  before  I  conclude  with  a  miserable  exclamation 


Chap.  VII.]  conclusion.  155 

4t  All  is  over  !"  Once  more  I  shall  call  after  regard- 
less sinners,  that  (if  it  be  possible)  I  may  awaken 
them  :  "  O  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord."  Unless  you  be  resolved  to  die,  lend  your  ears 
to  the  last  calls  of  mercy.  Behold,  in  the  name  of 
God  I  make  open  proclamation  unto  you  :  "  Hearken 
unto  me,  O  ye  children  ;  hear  instruction  and  be  wise, 
and  refuse  it  not." 

"  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters  ;  and  he  that  hath  no  money,  come  ye,  buy  and 
eat ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk,  without  money 
and  without  price.  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  your 
money  for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and  your  labor  for 
that  which  satisiieth  not?  Hearken  diligently  unto 
me,  and  eat  ye  that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul 
delight  itself  in  fatness.  Incline  your  ear  and  come 
unto  me  ;  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live  ;  and  I  will 
make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  sure 
mercies  of  David." 

Ho,  every  one  that  is  sick  of  any  manner  of  disease 
or  torment,  or  is  possessed  with  an  evil  spirit,  whether 
of  pride,  fury,  lust,  or  covetousness,  come  ye  to  the 
Physician,  bring  away  your  sick ;  lo,  here  is  he  that 
healeth  all  manner  of  sicknesses,  and  all  manner  of 
diseases,  among  the  people. 

Ho,  every  one  that  is  under  conviction,  and  every 
one  that  is  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  is  discon- 
tented with  himself,  gather  yourselves  unto  Christ, 
and  he  will  become  a  Captain  over  you.  He  will  be 
your  protection  from  the  arrests  of  the  law ;  he  will 
save  you  from  the  hand  of  divine  justice.  Behold,  he 
is  an  open  sanctuary  to  you  :  he  is  a  known  refuge. 
Away  with  your  sins  and  come  in  unto  him,  lest  the 
avenger  of  blood  seize  you,  lest  devouring  wrath  over- 
take you. 


156  CONCLUSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

Ho,  every  blind  and  ignorant  sinner,  come  and  buy 
eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see.  Away  with  thy  ex- 
cuses !  thou  art  for  ever  lost  if  thou  continue  in  this 
state.  But  accept  Christ  for  thy  Prophet,  and  he  will 
be  a  light  unto  thee.  Cry  unto  him  for  knowledge, 
study  his  word>  take  pains  about  religion,  humble  thy- 
self before  God,  and  he  will  teach  thee  his  way,  and 
make  thee  wise  unto  salvation.  But  if  thou  wilt  not 
follow  him,  but  sit  down  because  thou  hast  but  one 
talent,  he  will  condemn  thee  for  a  wicked  and  slothful 
servant. 

Ho,  every  profane  sinner,  come  in  and  live.  Return 
unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  on  thee ;  be 
entreated.  O  return,  come.  Thou  that  hast  filled  thy 
mouth  with  oaths  and  execrations,  all  manner  of  sins 
and  blasphemies  shall  be  forgiven  thee,  if  thou  wilt 
but  thoroughly  turn  unto  Christ  and  come  in.  O 
unclean  sinner,  put  away  thy  whoredoms  out  of  thy 
sight,  and  thy  adulteries  from  between  thy  breasts, 
and  give  up  thyself  unto  Christ,  as  a  vessel  of  holi- 
ness, alone  for  his  use  ;  and  then,  "  Though  thy  sins 
be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  white  as  snow  ;  and 
though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as 
wool." 

Hear,  O  ye  drunkards,  how  long  will  ye  be  drun 
ken  ?  Put  away  your  wine.  Though  you  have 
rolled  in  the  filthiness  of  your  sin,  take  the  cup  of 
repentance  and  heartily  renounce  your  beloved  lust, 
and  the  Lord  will  receive  you.  Give  up  yourselves 
unto  Christ,  to  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly ; 
embrace  his  righteousness  :  accept  his  government  : 
and  though  you  have  been  unclean,  he  will  wash 
you. 

Hear,  O  ye  loose  companions,  whose  delight  is  in 


Chap.  V1I.J  conclusion.  157 

vain  and  wicked  society,  to  sport  away  your  time  in 
carnal  mirth ;  come  in  at  Wisdom's  call,  and  choose 
her  and  her  ways,  and  you  shall  live. 

Hear,  O  ye  scorners,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  ; 
though  you  make  a  sport  at  godliness  and  the  pro- 
fessors thereof,  though  you  have  made  a  scorn  of 
Christ  and  of  his  ways,  yet  even  to  you  doth  he  call, 
to  gather  you  under  the  wings  of  his  mercy.  In 
a  word,  though  you  should  be  found  among  the  worst 
of  the  black  roll,  yet  upon  your  thorough  conversion 
you  shall  be  washed,  you  shall  be  justified,  you  shall 
be  sanctified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  our  God. 

Ho,  every  formal  professor,  thou  art  but  a  luke- 
warm Christian,  and  restest  in  the  form  of  godli- 
ness. Give  over  thy  halting;  be  throughout  a  Chris- 
tian, and  be  zealous  and  repent :  and  then,  though 
thou  hast  been  an  offence  to  Christ,  thou  shalt  be  the 
joy  of  his  heart. 

And  now  confess  that  mercy  hath  been  offered 
you.  "  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  against 
you  this  day,  that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and 
death,  blessing  and  cursing  ;  therefore  choose  life, 
that  you  may  live.''  I  can  but  persuade  and  warn 
you ;  I  cannot  otherwise  compel  you  to  be  happy  j 
if  I  could,  I  would.  What  answer  will  you  send  me 
with  to  my  Master  ?  Let  me  speak  to  you  as  Abra- 
ham's servant  to  Nahor's  family,  "  And  now  if  you 
will  deal  kindly  and  truly  with  my  master,  tell  me.M 

0  for  such  a  happy  answer  as  Rebecca  gave  them  ! 
"  And  they  said,  We  will  call  the  damsel  and  inquire 
at  her  mouth.  And  they  called  Rebecca,  and  said 
unto  her,  Wilt  thou  go  with  this  man  ?  and  she  said, 

1  will  go.    0  that  I  had  but  this  from  you !    Wrhy 

14 


158  CONCLUSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

should  I  be  your  accuser,  who  thirst  for  your  salva- 
tion ?  Why  should  the  passionate  pleadings  of  mercy 
be  turned  into  horrid  aggravations  of  your  obstinacy 
and  additions  to  your  misery  1  Judge  in  yourselves; 
do  you  not  think  their  condemnation  will  be  doubly 
dreadful,  that  shall  still  go  on  in  their  sins,  after 
all  endeavors  to  recall  them  ?  Doubtless  "  it  shall 
be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sid  on,  yea,  for 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than 
for  you  !" 

Sinners,  if  you  have  any  pity  for  your  perishing 
souls,  close  with  the  present  offers  of  mercy.  If  the 
God  that  made  you  have  any  authority  with  you, 
obey  his  command  and  come  in.  If  yoa  are  not  the 
despisers  of  grace,  and  would  not  shut  up  the  doors 
of  mercy  against  yourselves,  repent  and  be  converted  ; 
let  not  heaven  stand  open  for  you  in  vain  ;  let  not  the 
Lord  Jesus  open  his  stores,  and  bid  you  buy  without 
money  and  without  price  in  vain ;  let  not  his  Spirit 
and  ministers  strive  with  you  in  vain,  and  leave  you 
now  at  last  unpersuaded,  lest  the  sentence  of  condem- 
nation go  forth  against  you. 

Father  of  spirits,  take  the  heart  in  hand  that  is  too 
hard  for  my  weakness.  Do  not  thou  end,  though  I 
have  done.  A  word  from  thy  effectual  power  will  do 
the  work.  O  thou  that  hast  the  key  of  David,  that 
openest  and  no  man  shutteth,  open  thou  this  heart,  as 
thou  didst  Lydia's,  and  let  the  King  of  glory  enter  in, 
and  make  this  soul  thy  captive.  Let  not  the  tempter 
harden  him  in  delays  ;  let  him  not  stir  from  this 
place,  nor  take  his  eyes  from  these  lines,  till  he  re- 
solve to  forego  his  sins,  and  accept  of  life  on  thy  self- 
denying  terms.    In  thy  name,  0  Lord  Cod,  did  I  go 


Chap.  VII. J       COUNSELS  FOR  the  converted.  159 

forth  to  these  labors :  in  thy  name  do  I  close  them. 
Let  not  all  the  time  they  have  cost  be  lost  hours  :  let 
not  all  the  thoughts  of  the  heart,  and  all  the  pains  that 
have  been  about  them,  be  but  lost  labor.  Lord,  put 
thy  hand  upon  the  heart  of  this  reader,  and  send  thy 
Spirit,  as  once  thou  didst  Philip,  to  join  himself  to  the 
chariot  of  the  eunuch  while  he  was  reading  the  word. 
And  though  I  should  never  know  it  while  I  live,  yet  I 
beseech  thee,  O  Lord  God,  let  it  be  found  at  the  last 
day  that  some  souls  are  converted  by  these  labors ; 
and  let  some  be  able  to  stand  forth  and  say,  that  by 
these  persuasions  they  were  won  unto  thee.  Amen, 
Amen.    Let  him  that  readeth  say  Amen. 

counsels  for  the  converted. 

Value  no  mercy  barely  as  it  may  promote  your  tem~ 
poral  welfare,  but  view  it  rather  in  reference  to  eternity, 
and  as  it  may  serve  to  advance  your  Maker's  glory. — 
The  cipher  put  to  the  figure  is  of  great  signification  ; 
but  set  by  itself  it  signifies  nothing  at  all.  Creature 
comforts  separated  from  their  respect  to  God  and 
eternity,  are  of  no  value ;  but,  in  order  to  these  ends, 
they  signify  much.  We  have  ease  and  fullness  when 
many  others  are  in  pain  and  poverty  ;  and  we  have 
much  the  start  of  them,  if  we  be  wise  to  improve  our 
health,  in  laying  in  apace  against  a  wet  day,  and  pre- 
paring apace  for  eternity,  and  serving  the  Lord  with 
more  diligence,  and  cheerfulness,  and  gladness  of 
heart,  in  the  abundance  of  all  things:  but,  if  this  be 
all  we  have  by  it,  that  our  bones  lie  a  little  softer,  and 
our  palates  are  tickled  with  a  little  more  delight,  what 
profit  have  we  by  our  health  and  estates  ?  If  they 
that  are  sick  or  poor,  love  and  serve  the  Lord  better 


160  COUNSELS    FOR   THE   CONVERTED.        [Chap.  VII. 

than  we,  they  have  the  advantage  of  us ;  and  better 
were  it  for  us  to  be  poor  and  sick  as  they  are. 

Rest  not  in  probabilities  for  heaven,  but  labor  for 
certainties. — Beloved,  certainty  may  be  had,  else  the 
counsel  of  God  to  make  our  calling  and  election  sure 
is  in  vain,  else  the  experience  of  the  saints  were  but 
delusion,  who  tell  us  they  "  know  they  are  passed 
from  death  to  life,"  else  the  power  of  self-reflection 
were  to  no  purpose,  and  the  spirit  which  is  in  man 
would  not  know  the  things  of  man.  Now,  if  a  cer- 
tainty may  be  had,  will  you  not  try  by  all  means  to 
obtain  it?  Sirs,  you  have  need  to  push  hard  to  get 
assurance,  and  to  get  it  now.  We  are  ever  at  mise- 
rable uncertainties  for  all  outward  enjoyments ;  we 
know  not  how  soon  we  may  be  called  to  part  with 
them  all.  Professing  Christians,  will  you  be  content 
to  have  nothing  sure  ?  "Will  you  not  settle  your 
everlasting  condition,  seeing  you  are  so  unsettled  as 
to  your  outward  condition  ?  What  will  you  do  in 
the  day  of  visitation,  when  extremity  comes  in  upon 
you,  if  you  have  no  assurance  that  God  will  receive 
you?  It  would  make  one's  heart  tremble  to  think  of 
being  upon  such  a  fearful  temptation  as  to  part  with 
all  for  Christ,  and  not  to  be  sure  of  him  neither.  O 
man,  what  an  advantage  will  the  tempter  now  have 
upon  thee,  when  he  shall  suggest,  '  Wilt  thou  be  such 
a  fool  as  to  let  go  all  at  once  ?  Thou  seest  heaven  is 
not  sure,  Christ  is  not  sure  ;  therefore  keep  the  world 
whilst  thou  hast  it,  and  hold  what  thou  hast  sure.' 
Beloved,  what  a  fearful  slighting  of  God,  and  con- 
tempt of  heaven  and  glory,  and  all  the  promises,  doth 
this  argue,  that  you  can  be  content  to  be  at  uncer- 
tainties whether  they  be  yours  or  not !  How  many  of 
you  are  there  that  do  not  know  whether  you  be  going 


Chap.   VII.J         COUNSELS   FOR   THE    CONVERTED.  161 

to  heaven  or  hell !  And  what  desperate  carelessness 
doth  this  argue,  to  go  on  from  week  to  week  in  sucn 
a  case  !  Some  hopes  you  have  that  you  shall  do  well, 
but  put  me  not  off  with  hopes.  Never  be  satisfied  till 
you  are  able  to  say,  not  only  I  hope  I  shall  be  saved, 
but  I  know  I  am  "  passed  from  death  to  life ;"  I 
know  that  "  when  the  earthly  house  of  this  taber- 
nacle shall  be  dissolved,  I  have  a  building  not  made 
with  hands." 

Be  not  satisfied  with  some  grace;  but  reach  after 
growth  in  grace. — Do  not  think  all  is  done  when  you 
have  obtained  the  evidence  of  grace,  but  press  toward 
the  increase.  That  person  who  doth  not  desire  and 
design  perfection,  never  came  up  to  sincerity.  He 
that  desires  grace  truly,  desires  it  not  barely  as  a  bridge 
to  heaven,  and  so  to  seek  no  more  than  will  just  bear 
his  charges  thither;  but  he  desires  it  for  its  own  sake, 
and  therefore  desires  the  height  of  it.  That  person 
who  desires  grace  only  for  heaven's  sake,  and  inquires 
what  is  the  lowest  measure  of  grace  that  any  may  have 
to  come  to  heaven  (by  which  he  means  to  be  saved 
from  misery)  upon  this  design,  that  if  he  could  but 
come  to  that  pitch  he  would  desire  no  more;  that 
person  is  rotten  at  the  heart.  Christians,  the  Lord  doth 
expect  of  you  that  you  should  not  be  babes  and  dwarfs ; 
he  looks  now  especially  that  you  should  make  some 
progress.  What  do  you  more  than  heretofore  ?  What ! 
do  you  feel  his  spurs  in  your  sides,  and  his  whip  at 
your  backs,  yet  never  mend  your  pace  in  religion,  nor 
stir  one  jot  the  faster  ?  Let  me  commend  you  to  Paul's 
study,  It  argues  a  base  and  unworthy  spirit  to  content 
ourselves  with  small  things  in  religion. 

Labor  that  holiness  may  become  your  nature,  and  re- 
ligion your  business. — Then  you  are  come  to  somewhat 
14* 


1G2      COUNSELS  FOR  THE  CONVERTED.    [Chap.  VII. 

indeed  in  religion,  when  the  work  of  God  is  become 
your  natural  and  beloved  employment,  your  meat  and 
drink,  your  work  and  wages ;  when  your  tongues  and 
hearts  naturally  run  on  God,  as  others  on  and  of  the 
world.  Much  of  that  may  be  attained  by  constant  care 
and  prayer.  Brethren,  let  God's  work  be  done  by  you, 
not  by  the  by,  but  as  your  greatest  business:  "Seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  ;"  that  so,  whatsoever  you  do, 
you  may  be  able  to  give  the  same  account  of  yourselves 
that  our  Savior  did  when  they  inquired  of  him — that 
you  are  about  your  Father's  business. 

Confine  not  religion  to  your  knees,  but  carry  on  an 
even  thread  of  holiness  through  your  whole  course. — It 
is  the  disgrace  of  religion  that  Christians  are  so  unlike 
themselves  unless  it  be  when  they  are  in  holy  duties. 
This  wounds  religion  to  the  quick,  when  it  shall  be 
said  of  professors,  These  men  indeed  will  pray  like 
angels,  but,  for  aught  we  can  see,  they  are  as  peevish 
and  touchy  as  any  other  men,  and  they  are  as  hard  in 
their  dealings,  and  make  as  little  conscience  of  their 
words  as  others  do.  Beloved,  do  not  think  religion 
lies  only  or  chiefly  in  praying,  hearing,  or  reading; 
for  you  must  be  throughout  religious.  Sirs,  bring  forth 
your  religion  out  of  your  closets  into  your  ordinary 
course;  let  there  not  be  a  life  of  holiness  on  the  outside 
of  the  cloth,  but  let  holiness  be  woven  into  the  whole  of 
your  conversation.  Herein  consists  the  excellency  and 
difficulty  of  religion;  when  you  have  the  baits  of  intem- 
perance before  you,  then  to  hold  the  reins  hard  and 
deny  your  flesh ;  when  you  have  provocation  before 
you,  then  to  restrain  your  passions  and  bridle  the  un- 
ruly member;  when  you  have  dealings  with  others, 
then  to  proceed  by  that  golden  rule  of  equity  and  cha- 
rity to  do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  to  do 


Chap.  VII. J   COUNSELS  FOR  THE  CONVERTED.        163 

in  like  case  to  you ;  when  you  are  called  upon  by  your 
several  relations,  then  to  behave  yourselves  with  that 
tenderness  and  love,  with  that  reverence  and  obedience, 
with  that  courtesy,  condescension,  and  kindness  which 
becomes  you  in  your  various  capacities.  In  this,  I  say. 
lies  the  excellence  of  religion. 

Eve?'  walk  with  your  chief  end  in  view. — It  is  true, 
according  to  the  usual  similitude,  the  traveler  thinks 
not  of  his  journey's  end  every  step,  nor  need  he;  yet 
he  never  loses  sight  of  it,  it  is  never  out  of  his  mind. 
Brethren,  there  is  nothing  hinders  but  that,  with 
prayer  and  watchfulness,  you  might  come  to  this  in 
every  solemn  action,  to  mind  God  as  your  chief  end. 
Impose  this  on  yourselves  as  your  daily  rule  to  walk 
by,  never  to  lie  down  but  with  these  thoughts,  "  Well, 
I  will  make  use  of  my  bed  as  an  ordinance  of  God,  for 
my  natural  refreshment,  that  a  servant  of  his  may  be 
fitted  for  his  work."  Never  to  rise  up  but  with  these 
thoughts,  "  I  will  set  out  this  day  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  and  make  it  my  business  throughout  the  day  to 
please  him."  Never  to  set  about  your  callings,  but  in 
the  entrance  think  thus,  "  I  will  set  about  my  employ- 
ment in  obedience  to  God,  because  it  is  his  will  I  should 
walk  with  him  in  my  place  and  station."  Never  to  sit 
at  your  tables  but  thinking,"  I  will  now  eat  and  drink, 
not  merely  to  feed  my  flesh,  but  to  cherish  a  servant 
of  Christ  Jesus,  that  he  may  have  strength  for  his 
service."  Charge  this  upon  yourselves,  and  examine 
in  the  evening  how  you  have  minded  it,  and  check 
yourselves  wherein  you  come  short.  Once  learn  this, 
and  you  are  come  to  something,  and  shall  have  the 
undoubted  evidence  of  your  sincerity,  and  shall  know 
by  experience  the  blessed  mystery  of  walking  with 
God. 


164  A   CASE    OF   CONVERSION. 

Be  and  do  more  than  ordinary  in  your  closets  and 
families. 

In  your  closets. — Be  more  than  ever  in  self-examina- 
tion. And  here  let  me  put  it  to  your  consciences :  Are 
you  habitual  in  examining  yourselves  by  the  word  of 
God?  Do  you  try  yourselves  by  it  daily?  Ah,  wretch- 
ed negligence  !  What,  have  you  given  your  approba- 
tion and  yet  forget  your  duty?  God  expects  it  of  you, 
that,  now  you  know  his  will,  you  should  with  more 
zealous  fear,  and  tender  circumspection,  and  holy 
watchfulness  and  self-denial,  walk  before  him ;  else 
you  will  greatly  excite  his  indignation. 

Finally — In  your  families.  The  Lord  calls  you  to  set 
your  houses  in  order.  O  see  what  is  amiss  in  them, 
and  strive  to  cast  out  whatever  may  be  a  provocation. 


A  CASE  OF  CONVERSION. 


Deacon  B.  had  acquired  such  knowledge  of  divine 
things,  such  insight  into  character,  and  such  skill  in 
detecting  the  operations  of  mind  under  the  truth,  as 
very  seldom  to  mistake  in  his  treatment  of  sinners. 

On  one  occasion,  which  will  now  be  related,  he  as- 
certained that  a  young  woman  of  his  acquaintance  had, 
a  short  time  previously,  evinced  some  conviction  of  sin ; 
but  that  her  concern  of  mind  was  now  wearing  off. 
He  knew  that  she  had  been  educated  in  a  Christian 
family,  and  had  been  the  subject  of  a  gentle  and  long 
protracted  seriousness.  During  this  long  seriousness 
she  had  had  great  light  in  the  understanding,  and  now 
that  she  had,  within  a  few  days,  been  brought  to  deep- 
er anxiety  than  ever  deacon  B.  felt  that,  should  her 


A   CASE    OF    CONVERSION.  165 

concern  subside,  she  would,  in  all  probability,  grieve 
away  the  Holy  Spirit  for  ever.  What  was  to  be  done? 
He  felt  his  impotence,  and  lifting  up  his  heart  to  God 
for  that  influence  which  alone  can  make  the  truth  ef- 
fectual, he  resolved,  as  an  immortal  soul  was  probably 
in  the  crisis  of  its  destiny,  that  he  would  use  special 
efforts  for  its  recovery.  He  told  her  his  views  of  her 
condition.  But  when  he  urged  her  to  surrender  her 
heart  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  she  was  unwilling  to  do  it 
yet— she  wished  to  put  it  off  still  longer.  He  en- 
treated— he  urged  the  command  of  God,  the  joys  of 
heaven,  and  the  pains  of  hell— still  she  hesitated,  and 
ran  through  the  whole  circle  of  cavilings  about  in- 
ability, election,  Adam's  sin,  &c;  but  it  was  evident  to 
the  discerning  mind  of  Deacon  B.  that  it  was  only  the 
device  of  an  unreconciled  heart,  to  put  off  the  work  of 
compliance  with  the  command  of  Christ. 

Here  then  was  the  awful  struggle.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  spreading  truth  before  the  mind, 
and  flashing  conviction  upon  the  conscience,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  this  good  man ;  and  on  the  other, 
a  worm  of  the  dust  was  engaged  in  resisting  with  des- 
perate strife  every  motive  that  would  lead  to  submis- 
sion. It  was  enough  to  make  the  heart  of  piety  trem- 
ble to  see  the  conflict,  knowing  how  much  might  de- 
pend on  the  issue.  Deacon  B.  again  told  her  in  few 
words  the  state  of  her  case; — her  guilt  as  a  rebel 
against  God — a  slighter  of  the  Savior — a  resister  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  demonstrated  the  preciousness  of  the 
present  moment,  and  urged  her  to  cast  away  the  wea- 
pons of  her  rebellion.  She  wept,  but  remained  un- 
changed in  her  determination.  At  length,  raising  his 
venerable  form  erect  and  throwing  all  the  decision  of 
his  soul  into  his  voice,  he  said,  "Depend  upon  it,  I  am 


166  CONVERSION    OF   A   FAMILY. 

resolved  not  to  leave  you  till  you  make  up  your  mind 
to  be  either  for  God  or  against  him."  He  then  repeat- 
ed the  urgent  motives  of  the  Gospel,  till,  pressed  down 
by  the  weight  of  truth  and  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  she  fell  upon  her  knees  and  exclaimed,  "Lord, 
save  me  or  I  perish!  I  give  myself to  thee,  do  with  me  as 
seemeth  good  in  thy  sightP 

Subsequent  fruits  showed  it  to  be  a  genuine  surren- 
der of  her  heart  to  Christ.  But  had  Deacon  B.  grown 
weary  with  her  obstinacy,  how  awfully  different  might 
have  been  the  result ! 


CONVERSION  OF   A  FAMILY. 

From  the  American  Pastor's  Journal. 

During  a  short  residence  in  the  town  of  G in 

this  state,  I  presented  the  Tract  "Pause  and  think,  am 
la  Christian?''''  to  a  young  lady,  with  a  request  that 
she  would  give  it  an  attentive  and  prayerful  perusal. 
God  was  pleased  to  bless  the  reading  of  this  Tract  to 
her  awakening ;  for  on  conversing  with  her  the  next 
day,  she  had  a  realizing  sense  of  her  guilt  and  danger, 
and  was  anxious  to  know  what  she  must  do  to  be  saved. 
I  endeavored  to  convince  her  that  God  was  striving 
with  her,  that  it  was  consequently  a  critical  and  so- 
lemn time  with  her;  and  that  now  it  became  her  to 
work  out  her  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  while 
God  was  working  in  her  by  his  Holy  Spirit.  A  few 
days  after  this  I  saw  her  again.  Her  iniquities  had 
now  taken  hold  upon  her,  so  that  she  was  not  able  to 
look  up ;  and  I  was  peculiarly  struck  with  the  anguish 
and  solemnity  of  soul  that  her  countenance  expressed. 


CONVERSION   OF   A   FAMILY.  167 

"It  is  deeply  impressed  on  my  mind,"  she  said,  "that 
God  is  now  giving  me  the  last  call,  and  that  if  I  do 
not  obtain  religion  now,  I  never  shall."  I  replied,  "A — , 
I  feel  now  more  concern  for  your  salvation  than  ever, 
as  your  eternal  destinj'  may  now  hang  on  the  decisions 
of  a  moment.  Whence  is  this  impression?  Surely 
from  no  evil  influence,  surely  not  from  your  wicked 
heart.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  impression  is 
made  on  your  mind  by  the  Spirit  of  truth,  and  is  con- 
sequently a  solemn  truth.  God  in  all  probability  is 
striving  with  you  for  the  last  time,  and  if  you  grieve, 
away  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  defer  the  concerns  of  eternity, 
your  soul  may  be  lost  for  ever.'''  She  covered  her  face 
with  her  hands,  and  as  her  agitation  appeared  great,  I 
thought  it  best  to  leave  her  alone.  In  about  five  min- 
utes I  returned,  feeling  an  indescribable  concern  for 
her  salvation.  She  had  changed  her  seat,  her  eyes 
were  fixed  toward  heaven,  her  face  beamed  with  de- 
light, and  the  storm  within  her  soul  appeared  to  be 
hushed.  Fearing  she  had  listened  to  temptations  and 
had  dismissed  the  subject  of  religion  from  her  mind, 
and  hoping  to  bring  her  again  to  solicitude  about  her 
eternal  welfare,  I  asked  her  "Why  is  it,  when  we  know 
we  have  sinned  against  a  holy  God,  and  are  under  the 
curse  of  his  righteous  law,  that  we  have  so  little  con- 
cern about  our  soul's  salvation?"  She  replied,  "I  feel 
now  no  alarm — I  am  perfectly  calm.  I  think  I  have 
found  the  Savior.  I  think  I  love  him.  I  feel  that  lean 
trust  in  Mm?  After  cautioning  her  on  the  danger  of 
self-deception,  I  retired  to  rest,  determining  tbst  if  on 
the  morrow  she  gave  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart, 
I  would  mention  it  to  the  family,  in  hopes  that  it  would 

affect  them.    In  the  morning  A seemed  to  be  still 

resting  on  the  Savior,  and  to  be  greatly  affected  with 


168  CONVERSION   OP  A  FAMltV. 

the  sinfulness  and  ingratitute  of  her  past  life.  When; 
the  family  were  assembled  for  prayer,  I  read  the  third 
chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  made  a  few  remarks  on 
the  New  Birth,  and  mentioned  that  A was  indulg- 
ing a  hope  that  this  great  work  had  been  wrought  in 
her  soul.  I  then  told  the  family  that  if  A — —  was 
really  a  Christian,  a  separation  had  been  made  in  the 
family  that  would  continue  through  eternity,  unless 
they  repented  of  their  sins,  and  became  reconciled  to 
God.  The  family  was  affected,  every  member  being 
without  God  and  without  hope.  They  looked  at  A— —- ~ 
as  if  surprised  at  the  expression  of  joy  that  beamed 
in  her  countenance.  The  Spirit  of  God  came  down 
upon  that  family.  The  father,  mother,  and  another 
child  became  anxious  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come. 
Soon  they  were  all  found  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 
The  family  altar  was  erected,  and  there  was  great  joy 
in  that  house. 

About  a  year  after  I  passed  through  the  place,  and 
found  they  were  still  hoping  and  trusting  in  the  Savior. 
The  father,  mother,  and  A had  made  a  public  pro- 
fession of  their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  gave  increas- 
ing evidence  that  they  had  passed  from  death  unto 
life.  "It  is  the  Lord's  work,  and  it  is  marvellous  in 
our  eyes." 


RELIGION 

AND 

ETERNAL      LIFE, 

OR 
IRRELIGZON 

AND 

PERPETUAL     RUIN, 

The  only  Alternative  for  Mankind. 


v^ 


BY   J,    G.    PIKE, 

Author  of  "  Persuasives  to  Early  Piety,  &c. 


"  One  thing  is  needful." 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

AMERICAN    TRACT    SOCIETY, 

150   NASSAU- STREET,   NEW-YORK. 


D.  Fanthaw,  Printer. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  apprehended  that  though  this  little 
work  scarcely  requires  a  preface,  yet  that  a 
few  prefatory  lines  may  not  be  unappropri- 
ate.  The  design  of  this  book  is  to  call  the 
atteution  of  those  who  may  deem  it  worthy 
of  perusal,  to  the  importance  and  necessity  of 
decided  religion.  It  is  hoped  that  its  con- 
tents may  prove  adapted  to  strengthen  reli- 
gious feeling  in  the  breasts  of  the  pious ;  but 
it  is  more  especially  addressed  to  the  irreli- 
gious of  any  class,  and  at  any  period  of  life. 

The  Sacred  Scriptures  are  the  source 
whence  its  lessons  and  statements  are  drawn. 
It  offers  no  metaphysical  refinements  of  reli- 
gious truth,  but  plain  scriptural  instruction. 
Its  readers  are  addressed  not  as  churchmen 
or  dissenters,  but  as  fallen,  undone,  and 
dying,  yet  immortal  beings  who  need  eternal 
salvation.  It  would  humbly  follow  in  the 
track  of  those  "  Calls"  and  "  Alarms"  to  thu 
unconverted,  by  which  Baxter,  and  Doolit- 
tle,  and  Alleine  and  others  "  being  dead  yet 


PREFACE. 

speak,"  and  have  for  nearly  two  centuries,  un- 
der the  Eternal  Spirit's  blessing,been  speaking 
to  the  hearts  of  many  of  the  thoughtless  chil- 
dren of  men.  The  careless  millions  of  man- 
kind need  many  such  monitors;  and  if  but 
one  individual  among  those  careless  millions 
should  by  this  volume  be  led  to  the  Saviour, 
an  object  will  be  accomplished  sufficiently 
important,  to  recompense  the  labours  of  even 
numerous  years. 

Perhaps  some  readers  may  think  that  re- 
ferences to  the  eternal  state  are  too  frequently 
repeated  in  the  following  pages,  but  let  such 
consider  how  solemn  is  eternity !  and  how 
awfully  important  its  momentous  interests ! 
If  a  person  were  to  spend  one  minute  in  a 
state  of  probationary  existence,  which  minute 
should  be  followed  by  a  century  of  holiness 
and  happiness,  or  guilt  and  woe,  could  the 
solemnities  and  interests  of  the  approaching 
century  be  pressed  too  much  upon  his  atten- 
tion, through  that  single  minute?  yet  that 
minute  would  bear  some  proportion  to  the 
following  century,  but  the  longest  life  bears 
none  to  eternity. 

Derby,  Jan.  21,  1834. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I.     Introductory  Address.     Page  5, 

Sect.  1.  The  Reader's  attention  solicited.  2.  Religion  the  most 
important  and  lasting  of  distinctions.  3.  The  choice  of  decided  piety 
uever  lamented.  4.  The  reader  reminded  of  the  transient  nature  of 
earthly  things  5.  That  eternity  presents  the  solemn  contrast  of  per- 
fect blessedness,  or  utter  ruin.  6.  That  each  may  be  blessed,  or 
must  be  undone.    7.  That  life  Is  the  only  time  of  offered    mercy. 

8.  And  that  the  passing  year,  may  perhaps,  prove  the  Reader's  last. 

9.  Prayer. 

CHAPTER  II.      The  necessity  of  Religion  shon-n  from 
the  guilt  and  ruin  of  all  mankind.     Page  14. 

Sect!  1.  Man  an  nnforgtven  and  perishing  sinner,  till  possessed 
of  Gospel  blessings.  2.  All  liable  to  the  charge  of  having  not  glorified 
God,  and  of  having  violated  his  law.  3.  The  subject  further  pursued. 
4.  Appeal  to  the  Reader  on  the  sinfulness  of  his  heart.  5.  And  on 
the  countless  number  of  his  sins.  6.  Sin  not  an  inconsiderable  evil. 
7.  Man  while  unpardoned,  is  in  a  state  of  condemnation.  8.  The 
question,  Who  are  the  wicked?  answered.  9.  The  subject  pursued  in 
remarks  on  the  wickedness  of  neglecting  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

10.  The  aggravations  of  sin,  many  and  great.  11.  Further  remarks 
on  the  wickedness  of  man,  as  alienated  from  God.  12.  Evidences 
of  alienation  from  God.  13.  Men  while  alienated  from  God,  mere 
cumberers  of  the  ground.  14.  Guilty  man  must  meet  his  God. 
15.  Various  delusions  on  which  the  unconverted  rest  noticed  and 
exposed.    16.  Appeal  to  the  Reader,  on  his  own  ruined  condition. 

17.  This  subject  pursued;    and    remarks  on  the    wrath    of  God. 

18.  Further  expostulation  with  the  Reader  on  the  danger  of  an  im- 
penitent state.  19.  This  danger,  constant  danger.  20.  No  blessing 
possessed,  without  forgiveness  and  every  blessing  with  it. 

CHAPTER  III.     Religion  described.     Page  39. 

Sect.  1.  The  Reader's  attention  requested  to  the  nature  of  Reli- 
gion. 2.  All  intelligent  beings  divided  into  two  classes  —  the  enemies 
or  tae  children  of  God.  3.  Religion  a  solemn  consecration  of  our- 
selves to  God,  as  displayed  in  the  Gospel.  4.  Religion  possessed 
when  Christ  is  cordially  received.  5.  The  Christian  life,  a  life  of 
active  faith.  6.  All  the  Christian's  best  interests  committed  to  Christ. 
7.  The  Christian  comes  to  Christ.  8.  Has  Christ  in  him,  the  hope 
of  glory.    9.  Thus  the  truly  pious  are  the  Lord's  peculiar  people. 

CHAPTER  IV.     Further  illustrations  of  the  nature  of  ' 
Religion.     Page  50. 

Sect.  1.  Religion  connected  with  repentance — distinctions  be- 
tween true  and  false  repentance.  2.  The  true  penitent  enjoys 
forgiveness  of  sin.  3.  Remarks  on  the  evidences  of  possessing 
forgiveness.  4.  Distinctions  pointed  out  between  genuine  grace 
and  u  formal  Religion.  5.  The  pious  love  Christ.  6.  The  pious  are 
new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus.  7.  The  reality  and  greatness  of  the 
change  in  regeneration  further  illustrated.  8.  Various  marks  of  pos- 
sessing the  spirit  of  piety. 


Ti  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V.  The  wortklessness  and  mischiefs  of  a 
formal  Religion,  and  the  necessity  of  decision.     Page  71. 

Sect.  1.  Many  deluded  by  what  they  esteem  Religion,  but  which 
is  avain  Religion.  2.  No  genuine  piety  without  consecration  to  God. 
3.  Various  marks  of  a  vain  Religion.  4.  Its  evils— spiritual  destitu- 
tion—most fatal  deception.  5.  Other  dreadful  consequences  of  a 
vain  Religion.  G.  Necessity  of  decision,  because,  where  Religion  is 
concerned,  there  is  no  neutral  state,  no  middle  class.  7.  Many 
varieties  among  the  pious  and  irreligious,  though  all  ultimately  divide 
into  those  two  bodies.  8.  The  Reader  entreated  to  consider,  that  if 
not  the  friend,  he  is  the  foe  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  9.  Indecision  as 
ruinous  to  the  soul  as  open  hostility.  10.  Decision  in  religion  further 
urged. 

CHAPTER  VI.  Encouragements  to  embrace  Religion 
furnished  by  the  grace  exhibited  in  the  Gospel.     Page  89. 

Sect.  1.  Tlie  Gospel  displays  the  most  precious  blessings. 
2.  The  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  deliverance  from  its  reign.  3.  De- 
liverance from  condemnation.  4.  Blessings  from  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  issuing  in  heavenly  happiness.  5.  Salvation  an 
eternal  salvation.  6.  Brief  notice  of  various  errors  as  to  the  way  of 
obtaining  salvation.    7.  Christ  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us. 

8.  The  matchless  love  of  the  Father  displayed  in  the  gift  of  Christ. 

9.  The  love  of  the  Son  equally  incomprehensible.  10.  The  atoning 
sufferings  of  Christ,  foretold  by  prophecies  and  types.  11.  The  for- 
giveness which  the  penitent  receives,  is  through  his  sacrifice. 
12.  The  Saviour  worthy  of  the  most  devout  regard.  13.  He  is  an 
Almighty  Saviour.  14.  An  all-compassionate  Saviour.  15.  The 
tidings  of  his  grace  are  for  the  Reader.  16.  Verses  expressing  the 
feelings  of  a  humble  believer.  17.  Further  remarks  to  encourage  the 
desponding  penitent.  18.  The  same  subject  pursued,  and  some 
fears  of  the  desponding  noticed.  19.  Salvation  free  for  the  most 
unworthy  and  the  most  undone.  20.  The  Reader  reminded  that  the 
death  of  Christ,  must  be  to  him  the  greatest  of  blessings,  or  an 
aggravation  of  guilt.  21.  Hymn  by  Newton.  22.  Caution  against 
abusing  the  doctrines  of  grace. 

CHAPTER  VII.  Religion  urged  by  considerations  con- 
nected with  the  goodness  and  claims  of  the  Eternal 
God,  and  by  the  guilt  and  evils  of  neglecting  the  Lord 
Jesus.     Page  115. 

Sect.  1.  Attention  solicited  to  the  motives  for  Religion,  and  the 
importance  of  the  choice.  2.  The  claims  of  God,  and  the  blessedness 
of  consecration  to  Him — Expostulation  on  this.  3.  This  further 
urged  by  the  guilt  of  continuing  to  slight  God.  4.  Aggravations  of 
this  guilt  from  the  cause  of  such  neglect,  and  the  objects  preferred. 
5.  Further  aggravation  in  the  abuse  of  divine  mercies.  6.  The 
Saviour's  claims  from  his  love — Expostulation  on  them.  7.  From 
the  good  he  would  bestow  which  many  have  enjoyed.  8.  Expostula- 
tion with  the  Reader  on  what  he  would  desire  if  he  could  see  the 
Saviour  displaying  his  love.  9.  Every  evil  escaped,  and  every 
good  gained  if  Christ  is  won.  10.  The  subject  pursued,  Christ  no 
feeb'eor  common  friend.    11.  Neglect  of  Christ,  a  most   common 


CONTENTS.  vit 

sin  among  all  classes.  12.  Illustrations  of  the  nature  of  neglect. 
13.  The  guilt  of  neglect,  great  beyond  description.  14.  The  subject 
pursued  in  serious  expostulation  with  neglectors.  16.  Neglect  of 
Christ  binds  all  its  other  sins  upon  the  soul.  16.  Is  what  Satan 
desires  a  sinner  to  indulge  in.  1".  The  folly  of  such  neglect  inex- 
pressible, as  all  good  is  neglected  and  lost  by  neglect  of  Christ. 
18.  The  sinner  by  neglecting  Christ,  changes  every  blessing  to  a 
curse,  and  does  himself  irreparable  mischief.  19.  In  neglecting 
Christ,  man  neglects  the  only  Saviour.  20.  Neglect  of  Christ 
exposes  the  soul  to  numberless  and  dreadful  evils,  and  to  utter  con- 
demnation. 21.  The  careless  entreated  to  consider  the  end  of  such 
a  course.  22.  Neglectors  of  Christ  are  associated  with  all  the  vilest 
beings  in  the  universe. — Some  future  consequences  of  such  neglect. 
23.  Life  or  death  is  before  the  Reader. 

CHAPTER  VIII.      Religion  enforced  by  the   solemnities 

of  death  and  judgment.     Page  151. 

Sect.  1.    Death    and   judgment   await  all   mankind.       2.    The 

Reader  must  die — the  solemnity  of  death  and  the  worth  of  a  Saviour 

in  the   dying   hour.    3.  Solemnities  preceding  eternal  judgment. 

4.  The  great  day  come,  and  mankind  before  their  Judge.  5.  The 
welcome  and  blessedness  of  the  Righteous.  0.  The  doom  of  the  un- 
righteous. 7.  The  Reader  urged  to  secure  the  blessings  of  that 
great  day  by  welcoming  the  Saviour. 

CHAPTER  IX.  Decision  in  the  choice  of  Religion  urged 
by  the  ruin  and  misery  that  await  the  impenitent. 
Page  164. 

Sect.  1.  Warnings  respecting  future  punishment  important 
2.  Hell  the  certain  portion  of  the  finally  impenitent.  3.  Dreadful 
scriptural   descriptions    of   hell.    4.    Future    punishment    eternal. 

5.  The  poverty  of  the  lost  who  are  deprived  of  all  temporal  good. 

6.  Other  views  of  the  dreadful  condition  of  a  lost  soul.  7.  No  escape 
from  this  condition.  8.  No  change  of  character  or  relief  from  sin  to 
be  ever  experienced.  9.  Expostulation  with  the  careless  sinner  on 
his  danger.  10.  The  Reader  entreated  to  consider  what  he  must  be 
hereafter  if  destitute  of  salvation.     11.    The  same  subject  continued. 

12.  The  careless   warned  that  their  own  ruin  will    be    endless. 

13.  And  entreated  to  think  what  reflections  must  be  indulged  when 
the  day  of  salvation  has  ended.  14.  Lessons  of  gratitude  to  be 
learned  by  the  Christian  from  contemplating  the  horrors  of  hell. 

CHAPTER  X.     Decision    as   to  Religion  urged   by   the 
blessedness  of  heaven.     Page  187. 

Sect.  1.  The  present  happiness  of  departed  Saints  forms  a  sub- 
ject for  pleasing  meditation.  2.  Heaven  not  to  be  reached  without 
decided  piety.  3.  Scriptural  representations  of  heaven.  4.  Con- 
siderations assisting  contemplation  on  The  blessedness  of  heaven. 
5.  All  evils  excluded  from  heaven.  6.  The  blest  enjoy  perfect  safety 
and  exalted  triumph.  7.  The  happiness  of  heaven  augmented  by 
the  perfection  and  holiness  of  its  inhabitants.  8.  Who  dwell  in  the 
presence  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  9.  Heavenly  happiness  inconceiv- 
ably great.  10.  The  Reader  urged  to  seek  this  happiness.—Appeal 
«n  its  worth,  and  anticipation  of  heaven.    11.  Christians  from  con- 


viii  CONTENTS. 

templations  on  heaven,  should  learn  their  great  obligations.  12.  Th« 
scenes  of  the  future  world  eternal.  13.  Illustrations  of  eternity. 
14.  The  joys  or  sorrows  of  eternity  like  itself  unending. 

CHAPTER  XL     Serious  questions  proposed  to  neglectors 
of  Religion.      Page  208. 

Sect.  1.  Is  not  your  soul  worth  saving?  2.  The  love  of  God 
worth  having?  3.  Heaven  worth  possessing?  4.  Is  not  the  Lord 
Jesus  worthy  of  regard  ?  5.  Is  God's  anger  too  insignificant  to  be 
dreaded?  0.  Is  not  escape  from  hell  worth  attention?  7.  What 
then  do  you  mean  in  neglecting  the  salvation  of  your  soul?  8.  Do 
you  mean  to  perish?  9.  Can  you  be  saved  while  careless?  10.  Can 
you  find  another  way  of  salvation  ?  11.  Would  you  slight  salvation 
if  this  were  your  last  day?  12.  If  God  were  to  array  your  sins 
before  you,  would  you  say,  "  I  scorn  pardon,  I  will  keep  them  all?" 
id.  If  you  had  seen  the  Saviour  suffering,  would  you  slight  his 
dying  sorrows  ?  14.  If  you  had  seen  the  solemnities  of  the  judg- 
ment day,  would  you  continue  careless?  15.  If  you  could  see  hell 
opened  before  you,  would  you  take  the  way  to  that-abyss?  16.  If 
you  could  see  the  wicked  one,  would  you  not  almost  die  through 
fear  of  being  the  slave  of  such  a  horrid  being?  17.  If  you  could 
hear  the  damned  say,  "  You  will  soon  be  like  us,"  would  you  go  on 
in  carelessness  ?  18.  If  you  could  see  heaven,  would  you  say,  u  This 
shall  not  be  my  heme?"  19.  If  you  could  see  the  saints  in  light, 
would  you  say,  I  will  not  seek  their  Saviour,  or  their  home  ?  20.  If 
you  had  felt  for  one  hour  what  the  blest  enjoy  and  the  lost  suffer, 
would  you  think  anything  too  valuable  to  be  resigned  for  Christ? 
21.  Is  Satan's  service  so  honourable  and  so  profitable  that  you  should 
be  unwilling  to  renounce  it  ?  22.  Why  then  are  you  so  unwilling  to 
yield  yourself  to  God?  23.  Delay— and  questions  to  delayers. 
24.  Have  not  millions  perished  through  delay  ?  25.  Have  you  not 
delayed  long  enough  ?    26.  Delay  is  useless — God  will  not  change 

27.  Delay  is  inexcusable — There  is  nothing  in  God  to  justify  delay 

28.  Nothing  in  Christ  to  excuse  it.  29.  Nothing  good  in  irreligiop 
to  excuse  delay.  30.  Nothing  pleasing  in  Satan  to  justify  it 
31.  Nothing  good  in  the  sinner's  state  to  excuse  delay.  32.  Nothing 
in  delay  itself  to  excuse  a  delayer.  33.  Nothing  in  man's  unwilling- 
ness to  turn  to  God  that  can  palliate  the  guilt  of  delay.  34.  The 
delayer  is  a  rebel.  35.  In  a  state  of  dreadful  danger.  36.  Deserving 
extreme  divine  wrath. 

CHAPTER  XII.  Concluding  Addresses  —  To  young 
Women  —  To  young  Men  —  To  Readers  generally. 
Page  230. 

Sect.  1.  Inquiry  as  to  the  effect  upon  the  heart  of  the  truths 
presented  to  the  Reader's  attention.  II.  1.  Young  Women  addressed. 
2.  Female  characters  destitute  of  piety  described.  3.  Description  of 
pious  female  characters.  HI.  1.  Young  men  addressed — Profligate 
and  infidel — Anecdote  of  a  dying  infidel.  2.  Description  of  moral 
but  irreligious  young  men.  3.  Pious  young  men  described. 
IV.  Conclusion.  1.  Further  expostulation  with  the  Reader  on  the 
value  of  Religion.  2.  Concluding  warning  on  the  consequences  ol 
Indecision.    3.  Closing  Address. 


RELIGION  AND  ETERNAL  LIFE, 

&c. 


. 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTORY  ADDRESS. 


1.  This  little  work  is  addressed  to  you,  wYio 
now  look  upon  this  page,  as  a  traveller  to  the 
eternal  world.  Its  object  is  your  immortal  wel- 
fare; and  to  promote  that  object  the  writer  re- 
quests a  few  moments  of  your  fleeting  time ;  and 
solicits  your  attention  to  subjects  that  will  infi- 
nitely concern  you,  when  time  with  all  its  periods 
shall  be  no  more.  Were  you  sick,  and  health  the 
subject  of  inquiry ;  were  you  a  prisoner  or  a  slave, 
and  liberty  the  object  of  pursuit,  each  would  de- 
serve, and  each  would  gain,  attention.  But  that 
to  which  your  atte»tion  is  now  solicited,  is  far 
more  momentous.  It  will  concern  you  when 
health  or  sickness  appear  unutterable  trifles; 
when  liberty  or  slavery,  through  the  span  of  time, 
seem  scarcely  worthy  of  a  moment's  care.  Reli- 
gion is  this  subject.  This  is  worthy  of  all  atten- 
tion, and  of  all  acceptation.  In  possession  of  its 
blessings  the  poorest  are  rich ;  but  destitute  of 
them  the  richest  are  poor.  Without  its  blessings 
riches  are  but  splendid  poverty;  what  man 
deems  wisdom,  pompous  folly  ;  liberty,  but  re- 
fined slavery ;  and  life  itself,  the  path  to  endless 
death.    Without  its  blessings  you  must  be  poor 


6  RELIGION  MAIN'S  BEST  DISTINCTION  ' 

in  the  saddest  sense,  and  soon  be  poor  in  every 
sense  for  ever.  Ah,  foolish  world  !  that  can  tri- 
fle with  blessings  which  constitute  an  angel's 
wealth!  Ah,  wretched  men  !  who  lose,  in  a  few 
moments,  what  eternal  ages  never  can  restore ! 
and  the  loss  of  which  will  fill  eternal  ages  with 
anguish,  remorse,  and  despair !  Are  you  such  a 
tritler  ?  If  you  are,  stop,  O  stop  !  and  consider 
your  ways!  Many  considerations  claim  your 
devout  attention  to  the  subjects  discussed  in  this 
little  volume.     Think  of  a  few  of  these  — 

2.  Religion  constitutes  the  most  important 
distinction  in  the  human  character,  and  forms,  as 
it  were,  the  dividing  line  between  life  and  death 
eternal.  All  other  distinctions  will  speedily 
vanish.  -Those  of  character,  of  disposition,  of 
conduct,  of  beauty  or  deformity,  will  soon  be 
forgotten.  Those  of  learning  or  ignorance,  of 
wealth  or  poverty,  of  wearing  the  gem  or  digging 
the  mine,  of  possessing  a  throne  or  toiling  as  a 
slave,  of  youth  or  of  age,  of  revelling  in  health  or 
lingering  in  agony,  will  shortly  pass  away,  and 
be  as  if  they  had  never  been.  They  who  were 
separated  so  widely  apart  in  this  world,  will  sink, 
if  strangers  to  the  converting  grace  of  God,  to  an 
equal  level  of  guilt  and  misery ;  or  rise,  if  pos- 
sessors of  heartfelt  piety,  to  equal  heights  of 
happiness  and  honour,  and  wear  eternally  the 
high  distinction  of  being  the  lovers  and  children 
of  God. 

3.  Consider  that  no  one  ever  repented  of  em- 
bracing religion,  and  becoming  the  humble  dis- 
ciple of  the  adorable  Saviour.  Multitudes,  that 
no  man  can  number,  have  tried  what  satisfaction 
the  paths  of  transgression  and  irreligion  can  im- 


ITS  CHOICE  NEVER  LAMENTED.  7 

part.  They  have  at  length  found  the  whole  to  be 
vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit ;  and  when  quitting 
time  for  an  awful  eternity,  have  lamented,  with 
bitter  regret,  their  fatal  choice.  Not  an  hour 
elapses,  but  some  are  passing  from  beds  of  an- 
guish, to  their  final  account,  full  of  consternation 
and  remorse  at  the  recollection  of  lives  spent 
without  God  and  without  Christ ;  but  no  one  ever 
lamented  the  choice  of  humble,  persevering  piety ; 
or  reviewed  with  remorse  the  day  that  led  him  to 
the  Saviour.  Many,  after  vainly  seeking  happi- 
ness in  worldly  dissipation,  sin,  and  folly,  have 
been  led,  by  the  Divine  Spirit's  influence,  to 
choose  religion  as  their  portion.  Then  they 
found  the  peace  they  never  knew  before ;  and 
never  felt  regret,  except  regret  that  they  trod  the 
ways  of  sin  so  long,  and  came  no  sooner  to  the 
Saviour  for  salvation.  While  millions  of  the 
careless  have  mourned,  at  the  approach  of  death, 
with  unutterable  anguish,  trveir  neglect  of  hum- 
ble piety,  no  dying  believer  ever  lamented  his 
choice,  or  wished  that  choice  unmade  ;  but  mul- 
titudes, departing  in  peace,  have  blessed  their 
Saviour,  with  gratitude  past  utterance,  for  his 
grace,  in  making  them  the  heirs  of  salvation. 
And  will  you  make  that  choice  of  a  careless  ir- 
religious life,  which,  though  the  choice  of  count- 
less millions,  must  be  by  them  all  eternally  re- 
gretted ?  God  forbid  !  Why  will  you  not  choose 
that  good  part  which  shall  never  be  taken  away! 
and  make  that  choice  which,  under  divine  grace, 
happy  millions  have  made,  and  not  one  among 
them'  ever  lamented  ! 

4.  If  indisposed  to  yield  to  this  suggestion, 
think  how  transient  are  earthly  things  !  and  how 


8      TRANSIENT   NATURE   OF   EARTHLY   THINGS. 

soon  you  will  lose  all,  for  which  you  slight  the 
welfare  of  a  deathless  soul !  "The  world  passeth 
away  and  the  desire  thereof."  Its  cares,  its  plea- 
sures, and  its  businesses,  like  the  waves  of  a  ra- 
pid stream,  are  rushing  by.  Where  are  they, 
who,  one  hundred  years  ago,  were  amused  with 
the  vanities  of  life,  or  agitated  with  the  cares  of 
domestic  scenes  or  the  politics  of  conflicting  na- 
tions ?  Where  are  they  now  ?  In  that  eternity 
where  you  must  shortly  be.  What  are  they  now  ? 
How  changed  !  how  happy,  or  how  sad  !  while 
the  pleasures  or  sorrows  of  a  world  that  once  en- 
gaged them  so  much,  seem  as  insignificant  as  a 
falling  leaf,  or  a  feather  driven  by  the  wind ! 
You,  too,  are  going  apace  to  a  long  long  home. 
Whether  young  or  aged,  vigorous  or  sickly,  you 
will  soon  be.  there.  For  a  few  years,  perhaps, 
you  may  inhabit  some  earthly  dwelling,  then 
must  your  dust  "return  to  the  earth  as  it  ivas,  and 
your  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  that  gave  it  z"1 
while  over  your  grave  the  storms  of  ages  shall 
beat,  till  that  last  day  dawns,  which  shall  perfect 
your  happiness  or  complete  your  condemnation. 
And  is  it  for  so  transient  a  world  as  this,  that  you 
will  slight  the  interests  of  an  immortal  soul ! 

5.  Consider,  too,  that  in  that  eternal  world, 
which  lies  before  you  and  cannot  be  far  off,  there 
are  two  states  only,  and  those  infinitely  opposite. 
The  Lord  Jesus,  when  urging  every  sacrifice  to 
secure  salvation,  declares,  in  the  compass  of  a  few 
verses,  three  times  over,  that  you  must  "  enter 
into  life  or  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  b* 
quenched"'1  O,  think  how  solemn,  how  dreaclfin 
is  the  contrast!     Before  you  in  eternity  is  all  life 

(I)  Eccles.  xii.  7.  (2)  Mark,  ix.  43—48. 


THE  SOLEMN  CONTRASTS  OP  ETERNITY.  9 

or  all  death — all  holiness  or  all  guilt — all  joy  or 
all  woe — all  triumph  or  all  despair — all  rapture 
or  all  wailing  and  anguish — al!  light  or  all  dark- 
ness — all  praises  and  blessing?,  or  all  blasphemy 
and  cursing — all  angels  and  saints  as  blest  as 
they,  or  all  devils  and  spirits  damned  like  them — 
all  heaven  or  all  hell,  Thus  the  good  or  evil,  the 
gain  or  loss  before  you,  is  imnrensly  great.  If 
your  undying  soul  be  saved,  all  is  saved  ;  if  lost, 
all  is  lost.  If  blessed,  all  will  to  you  eternally  be 
blessing;  if  cursed,  all  for  ever  will  be  ruin.  If 
this  be  lost,  nothing  for  you  can  be  saved  ;  no- 
thing bless  you  ;  nothing  benefit  you.  If  this  be 
saved,  nothing  can  harm  you,  nothing  can  in- 
jure you.  Satan's  every  effort  will  be  defeated, 
and  God's  love  gloriously  triumphant. 

6.  Pursue  these  considerations,  and  think 
what  you  may  be,  or  what  you  must  be.  You 
may  be  a  follower  of  the  Lamb,  and  thus  a  child 
of  God.  You  may  enjoy  true  blessings  here, 
and  greater  hereafter.  You  may  in  the  world 
unseen,  become  a  holy  happy  being.  You  may 
bear  the  image  of  your  Father  God,  in  spotless 
holiness.  You  may  wear  the  likeness  of  your 
redeeming  Lord,  where  his  sainls  shall  "be  like 
him,  and  see  him  as  he  is  ;"*  where  they  shall 
"never  never  sin."  You  may  dwell  in  his 
kingdom,  and  may  be*vith  his  saints  in  light,  as 
holy  and  as  happy  as  they'.  You  may  possess 
with  them  the  tranquil  mansions  of  eternal  rest ; 
may  share  in  the  triumphs  of  the  resurrection 
day,  and  meet  the  welcome  of  the  King,  the 
Saviour  God,  who  will  sit  as  judge  eternal.  And 
when  the  solemnities  of  the  judgment  day  shall 

(1)1  John,  iii.  2. 

b3 


10       WHAT  THE  READER  MAY  BE  OR  MUST  BE. 

have  finished,  you  may  possess  all  that  heaven 
can  give ;  and  enjoy  freely,  fully,  ceaselessly, 
and  eternally,  the  Son's  love  and  the  Father's 
favour.  May  all  this  be  yours?  yours  who  are 
now  looking  on  this  page?  it  may!  can  it  be? 
yes  it  may  !  All  may  be  yours,  and  will  you  be 
so  basely  wicke.d,  as  to  slight  the  grace,  and  de- 
spise the  love  that  would  give  you  all  this !  or 
will  you  be  so  unutterably  distracted  as  to  neglect 
it  all !  If  by  neglect  of  the  gospel,  you  have 
hitherto  done  this,  and  will  continue  to  act  so 
vile,  so  horridly  ungrateful,  and  madly  foolish  a 
part,  then  remember  what  you  must  be.  Your 
soul  must  live.  If  debased  by  sensuality  ;  if 
sunk  in  sin ;  if  rendered  earthly,  sensual,  devil- 
ish, yet  it  is  immortal ;  and  you  must  live.  You 
may  undo  your  soul,  but  cannot  put  it  out  of 
being.  If  impenitent  and  unpardoned,  you  must 
drag  on  existence  eternally,  while  existence  will 
eternally  be  a  curse.  You  must  be  infinitely 
unholy,  and  hellish;  the  object  of  abhorrence  to 
every  holy  and  happy  being.  You  must  wear 
Satan's  likeness,  in  eternal  enmity  to  God  and 
goodness.  You  must  be  exposed  for  ever  to 
the  retributions  of  divine  justice;  to  the  wrath 
that  burns  to  the  lowest  hell,  and  which  will 
"beat upon  your  naked  soul  in  one  eternal  storm." 
You  must  inhabit  Satan's  prison,  instead  of  the 
sweet  mansions  of  life  and  peace.  You  must  roil 
in  the  lake  of  fire,  and  howl  amidst  the  shrieks  of 
the  damned.  Your  gay  companions,  if  undone 
with  you,  changed  to  tormentors;  your  employ, 
ments  wailing,  and  cursing,  and  blasphemy ; 
your  mercies  ended  ;  your  delights  gone ;  your 
sorrows  unavailing ;    your   ruin  hopeless;    and 


THIS  LIFE  THE  ONLY  DAY  OF  GRACE.  11 

you  must  see  ages  of  guilt  and  gloom  beyond 
ages  of  guilt  and  gloom  in  never-ending  succes- 
sion. What  a  change!  Where  then  will  be 
youth,  gaiety,  pleasure  ?  Alas,  for  ever  sad  ! 
Where  the  possessor  of  wealth  and  honour,  who 
knew  not  Christ  ?  Alas,  poor  possessor,  for  ever 
ever  poor !  O,  think  these  statements  are  not 
cunningly  devised  fables.  They  are  grounded 
on  the  testimony  of  that  infallible  word  which  is 
eternal  truth,  and  by  it  are  fully  confirmed.  And 
must  you,  even  you,  if  not  truly  pious,  be  thus 
undone?  Indeed  you  must.  And  will  you  tri- 
fle? or. will  you  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ? 
and  turn  your  feet  into  the  ways  of  God  ?  and 
lift  up  your  heart  to  Him  for  pardoning  mercy 
and  renewing  grace  ? 

7.  While  meditating  on  these  solemn  subjects, 
consider  also  that  this  life  is  the  only  time  of  of- 
fered mercy.  Hereafter  no  fears  will  alarm  the 
pious,  and  no  hopes  will  cheer  the  lost.  If  for 
ten  thousand  years  the  Lord  Jesus  would  invite 
you  to  receive  himself  and  the  blessings  of  his 
grace,  though  delay  would  be  base  ingratitude, 
it  would  not  insure  such  certain  ruin.  But  he 
will  not  wait  long.  Not  many  years,  or  perhaps 
not  one.  Before  the  dawning  of  next  new-year's 
day,  the  state  of  millions  will  be  for  ever  fixed  ; 
and  perhaps  you  are  one  of  those  who  are  to  die 
this  year.  Should  you  die  unconverted  and 
unsaved,  if  there  were  ever  to  come  a  period, 
though  at  the  distance  of  millions  of  ages,  when 
mercy  and  salvation  should  once  more,  for  a  sin- 
gle hour,  be  set  before  you,  such  a  hope  might 
almost  change  the  gloom  of  hell  to  heaven.  But 
no  such  hope  will  ever  dawn  upon  you  in  the 


12       THIS  YEAR  PERHAPS  THE  READER'S  LAST. 

eternal  world.  There  are  no  pardons  in  eternity; 
no  conversions  beyond  the  grave.  "  Behold  now 
is  the  accepted  time ;  behold  now  is  the  day  of 
salvation.3'1  But  a  day,  and  if  that  day  be  lost 
all  is  lost.  O  heart-breaking  guilt,  pitiable  mad- 
ness of  miserable  men,  to  waste  that  precious 
day  of  mercy  and  salvation  !  Reader,  have  you 
wasted  it  hitherto?  If  you  have,  O  praise  the 
mercy  that  has  kept  you  from  the  regions  of  de- 
spair!  While  in  the  land  of  hope,  repent  and 
turn  unto  the  Lord  !  Listen  to  his  admonition, 
"  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  call 
ye  upon  him  while  he  is  "near.  Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts,  and  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will 
have  mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for  he 
will  abundantly  pardon."5 

8.  By  one  consideration  more  your  attention 
to  the  pages  that  follow  is  earnestly  requested. 
Perhaps  this  may  be  your  last  year,  the  last  that 
God  will  give  you  in  this  probationary  state.  If 
it  should,  when  another  year  begins,  how  chang- 
ed will  be  your  state,  according  as  you  now  re- 
gard or  slight  the  great  Author  of  salvation. 
If  you  are  made  a  partaker  of  his  blessings,  short 
as  may  be  your  Christian  race,  it  will  conduct 
you  to  the  kingdom  of  your  God  ;  but  if  you 
slight  him,  and  are  cut  down  this  year,  how  dif- 
ferent will  be  your  state  at  its  close,  from  that  at 
its  commencement !  How  awful  to  begin  the 
year  with  false  hopes,  and  to  end  it  in  hell ;  to 
begin  with  God  mercifully  offering  his  blessings, 
and  the  Saviour  waiting  to  be  gracious,  and  ere 
it  end  to  be  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  mercy  ! 

(1)2  Cor.  Ti.2.  (2)  Is.lv.  6,  7. 


PRAYER.  13 

To  begin  it  loving  the  world,  and  the  things  of 
the  world,  perhaps  delighting  in  plays,  and  no- 
vels, and  songs,  and  dances,  and  in  all  things  that 
make  the  vain  still  vainer,  and  to  end  it  with 
every  pleasure  vanished,  and  of  all,  the  eternal 
sting  only  remaining!  To  begin  the  year  with 
sinful  men,  and  ere  it  end  to  be  mingling  with 
infernal  spirits!  Oh,  awful  change!  yet  if  you 
slight  the  Saviour,  and  die  this  year,  this  change 
you  must  know  by  sad  experience.  The  writer 
would,  therefore,  in  this  volume,  with  all  the  se- 
riousness he  can  feel,  address  you,  as  standing 
on  the  borders  of  eternity  ;  and  would  regard  you 
as  a  dying  mortal.  When  we  meet  at  the  judg- 
ment bar,  will  you  then  think  it  possible  to  be 
too  earnest  in  recommending  to  your  attention 
the  things  that  belong  to  your  eternal  peace! 
You  are  entreated  to  read  seriously  what  is  seri- 
ously written,  and  not  only  read  but  pray.  Pray 
for  the  grace  of  God.  Ask  for  the  Holy  Spirit's 
aid  or  you  will  read  in  vain  ;  and  whatever  feel- 
ings may  be  excited  in  your  mind,  they  will  be 
transient  as  a  morning  cloud  or  as  the  early  dew. 
9.  From  beseeching  you  to  regard  these  things, 
I  would  turn  to  God  on  your  behalf.  "Father  of 
all  mercies,  Giver  of  all  blessings,  who  desirest 
not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  open  the  hearts  of  the 
readers  of  this  book  to  receive  the  instruction 
it  contains.  All  teaching  as  to  eternal  life,  is 
vain  without  thy  teaching.  All  admonition  and 
entreaty  vain,  unless  thy  Spirit  open  the  heart 
and  seal  instruction  on  the  mind.  All-gracious 
Lord,  they  who  are  here  addressed,  need  a  more 
powerful  call  than  this,  'nor  will  they  heed  a 
feebler  voice'  than  thine,   which  at  length  will 


14  MAN   FALLEN    AND    UNDONE  I 

wake  the  slumbering  dead.  O  Thou  that  didst 
give  thy  best  beloved  for  man's  salvation,  and 
-with  whom  is  the  residue  of  the  Spirit,  pour  that 
Spirit  down.  Speak  by  the  still  small  voice  of 
his  influence,  and  bring  many  to  welcome  the 
Saviour  and  salvation.  And  Thou  that  didst 
bleed  and  agonize  and  die  for  guilty  men,  Thou 
that  on  the  day  of  pentecost  didst  shed  that  Spirit 
down,  thatchanged  thousandsof  hearts  in  anhour, 
accompany  this  book  with  thy  Spirit's  influence, 
and  magnify  thy  truth,  thy  love,  and  mercy,  by 
bringing  the  lost,  the  guilty,  and  the  ruined,  as 
willing  captives  to  thy  feet.     Amen." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  RELIGION  SHOWN  FROM  THE 
GUILT  AND  RUIN  OF  ALL  MANKIND. 

In  the  last  chapter  your  attention  was  invited 
to  the  subjects  that  are  now  to  follow. 

1.  Were  you  to  enter  the  condemned  cell  of 
some  gloomy  prison,  and  there  behold  a  wrttched 
criminal  awaiting  an  ignominious  death,  you 
would  not  hesitate  one  moment  to  admit  his 
need  of  mercy ;  and  the  importance  of  his  in- 
stantly employing  every  means  by  which  mercy 
might  be  obtained.  The  state  of  man  is  very 
similar;  and  the  importance  of  heartfelt  piety  is 
seen  in  the  fact,  that  while  you  are  a  stranger  to 
its  blessings,  you  are  an  unforgiven  and  perish- 
ing sinner.  Nothing  short  of  being  cleansed 
from  sin  can  do  you  lasting  good.     While  your 


LIABLE  TO  THE  CHARGE  ;    DAN.  V.  23.  15 

sins  lie  unpardoned  on  your  soul,  if  the  world 
were  yours  you  would  be  poor;  if  all  that  man 
esteems  lovely  adorned  you,  in  God's  sight  you 
would  be  hateful ;  and  if  the  love  of  all  mankind 
were,  fixed  upon  you,  and  ministering  to  your 
happiness,  you  would  be,  in  truth,  a  miserable 
being,  living  under  your  Creator's  frown.  When 
we  look  at  the  state  of  mankind,  we  behold 
crowds  thronging  the  path  of  transgression  and 
woe.  There  are  the  aged  and  the  young,  the 
rich  and  the  poor.  There  are  profligates  and 
scorners ;  but  there  too  we  see  multitudes,  that 
are  moral  in  their  conduct,  and  pleasing  in  their 
dispositions ;  respectable  young  men,  and  ami- 
able young  women,  yet,  because  strangers  to  true 
piety,  still  classed  with  the  wicked,  and  perishing 
with  the  unforgiven. 

2.  The  solemn  accusation  brought  of  old 
against  Belshazzar,  may  in  substance  be  brought 
against  every  human  being,  while  continuing  in 
a  state  of  nature.1  "Thou  hast  praised  the  gods 
of  silver,  and  gold,  of  brass,  iron,  wood,  and 
stone,  which  see  not,  nor  hear,  nor  know :  and 
the  God  in  whose  hand  thy  breath  is,  and  whose 
are  all  thy  ways,  hast  thou  not  glorified."  If 
thou  hast  not  bowed  down  to  gods  of  stone  or 
wood,  of  brass  or  iron,  to  silver  saviours  or 
saints  of  gold,  thou  hast  had  idols.  All  that 
has  kept  thy  heart  from  God,  has  been  an  idol 
to  thee.  Perhaps  thy  sabbath-breaking  parties ; 
perhaps  thy  sinful  companions;  perhaps  some 
beloved  sin.  These,  or  things  like  these,  have 
been  thy  idols ;  and  the  God  in  whom  thy  breath 
is,  and  whose  are  all  thy  ways,  hast  thou  not 

(1)  Daniel,  v.  23. 


16  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

glorified.  Is  not  this  accusation  too  well 
founded  r  Does  not  conscience  bear  witness  to 
its  truth  ?  and  "  if  our  heart  condemn  us,  God 
is  greater  than  our  heart,  and  knoweth  all 
things."1  To  you  will  apply  the  awful  declara- 
tion, 'Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balances  and  art 
found  wanting."2  God  examines  your  state. 
**  His  eyes  behold,  his  eyelids  try  the  children  of 
men."3  The  rule  by  which  your  thoughts, 
actions,  and  words,  are  and  must  be  tried,  is  his 
holy  law. 

The  requirements  of  the  moral  law  were  pro- 
claimed by  God,  witU  terrific  solemnity  and 
grandeur,  from  Mount  Sinai.  "Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me. — Thou  shalt  not 
make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  like- 
ness of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that 
is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water 
under  the  earth :  thou  shalt  not  bow  down 
thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them  ;.for  I  the  Lord 
thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me, 
and  showing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them 
that  love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments. — 
Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy 
God  in  vain;  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him 
guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  in  vain. — Re- 
member th  e  sabbath-day,  to  keep  it  holy.  Six 
days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  thy  work; 
but  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord 
thy  God :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work, 
thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy 
man-servant,    nor    thy  maid-servant,    nor    thy 

(V  1  John.,  iii.  20.  (2)  Daniel,  v.  27.  (3)  Psalm,  xi.  4. 


OF  THE  MORAL  LAW.  17 

cattle,  nor  thy  stranger,  that  is  within  thy 
gates:  for  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  hea- 
ven and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them 
is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day :  wherefore  the 
Lord  blessed  the  sabbath-day,  and  hallowed  it. — • 
Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother:  that  thy 
days  may  be  long-  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord 
ihy  God  giveth  thee. — Thou  shalt  not  kill. — 
Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. — Thou  shalt 
not  steal. — Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness 
against  thy  neighbour. — Thou  shalt  not  covet 
thy  neighbour's  house,  thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant,  nor  his 
maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any 
thing  that  is  thy  neighbour's."1  Of  this  law  a 
brief  summary  given  by  the  Lord  Jesus, 
is,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  command- 
ment. And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."2  It  reaches 
the  thoughts  and  desires  of  the  heart.  Thus 
the  Lord  Jesus  explains  it  in  reference  to  one 
precept,  and  doubtless  the  spirit  of  his  explana- 
tion is  applicable  to  all.3  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery :  but  I  say  unto  you,  that 
whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her, 
hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his 
heart."  The  tenth  commandment  applies  prin- 
cipally to  the  desires  of  the  heart.  This  law 
reaches  to  the  words  of  the  lips,  the  Lord  Jesus 
says,  "  I  say  unto  you,  That  every  idle  word  that 
men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof 

(1)  Exodus,  xx.  3—17.    (2)  Matt.  xxii.  37—39.    (3)  Matt.  v.  26—27. 
C 


18  MEN  VIOLATORS  OF  THE  LAW. 

in  the  day  of  judgment.  For  by  thy  words 
thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou 
shalt  be  condemned."1  "Ye  have  heard  that  it 
was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not 
kill;  and  whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger 
of  the  judgment:  but  I  say  unto  you,  that 
whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  without  a 
cause,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment ;  and 
whosoever  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca,  shall 
be  in  danger  of  the  council :  but  whosoever 
shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell- 
fire."2  It  requires  sinless  obedience  ;  and  obedi- 
ence continued,  and  perfect  without  a  flaw. 
"  Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet 
offend  in  one  point  he  is  guilty  of  all."3  "As 
many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are  under 
the  curse  :  for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one 
that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them."4 
Survey  then  and  often  survey  its  extent,  for  the 
commandment  is  exceeding  broad.  It  requires 
love  to  God,  the  most  fervent,  entire,  and  unin- 
terrupted. It  requires  love  to  man,  as  perfect 
and  continued.  It  requires  perfect  conformity 
to  its  directions  at  all  times,  in  the  actions  of  the 
life,  the  thoughts,  and  desires  of  the  heart,  and 
the  words  of  the  lips ;  and  its  language  is, 
"Do  this  and  live;  but  for  less  than  this  you 
die." 

Weighed  in  these  balances,  are  you  not  found 
wanting?  Have  you  come  up  to  the  require- 
ments of  God's  holy  law  ?  and  loved  him  with 
all  your  heart,  and  mind,  and  soul,  and  strength  ? 

(1)  Matt.  xii.  36—37.        (2)  Matt.  v.  21—22.        (3)  James,  ii.  10. 
(4)  Galatians,  iii.  10. 


ANECDOTE  OF  A  NEGRO.  19 

and  loved  the  adorable  Saviour  with  supreme 
affection  ?  and  loved  your  neighbour  as  yourself? 
You  dare  not  declare  you  have.  Then  you 
are  found  wanting.  Have  you  improved  as  you 
might  have  done  talents  and  time,  sabbaths  and 
mercies?  Ah  no  !  then  you  are  found  wanting. 
Have  you  obeyed,  in  full  perfection,  through 
every  moment  of  life,  the  other  precepts  of  the 
divine  law  ?  Ah  no  !  then  you  are  verily  guilty 
before  God.  A  poor  negro  thus  described  what 
passed  in  his  own  mind,  when  hearing  a  mis- 
sionary preach  the  gospel  at  Regent's  Town,  in 
Western  Africa:  "Yesterday  morning  when 
you  preach,  you  talk  about  the  ten  command- 
ments. You  begin  at  the  first,  and  me  say  to 
myself,  '  Me  guilty  !' — the  second,  '  Me  guilty  !' 
-the  third,  'Me  guilty!'— the  fourth,  'Me 
guilty  !' — the  fifth,  '  Me  guilty  !'  Then  you  say 
the  sixth,  '  Thou  shall  not  kill ;'  me  say,  '  Ah  !  me 
no  guilty !  me  never  kill  some  person.'  You 
say,  'I  suppose  plenty  people  live  here,  who 
say — Me  no  guilty  of  that !'  Me  say  again  in 
my  heart,  ■  Ah !  me  no  guilty.'  Then  you  say, 
'Did  you  never  hate  any  person  ?  did  you  never 
wish  that  such  a  person,  such  a  man,  or  such 
a  woman,  was  dead  V — Massa,  you  talk  plenty 
about  that ;  and  what  I  feel  that  time  t  can't 
tell  you.  I  talk  in  my  heart,  and  say,  fMe  the 
same  person !'  My  heart  begin  to  beat — me 
want  to  cry — my  heart  heave  so  much  me  don't 
know  what  to  do.  Massa,  me  think  me  kill  ten 
people  before  breakfast!  1  never  think  I  so  bad. 
Afterward  you  talk  about  the  Lord  Jesus,  how 
he  take  all  our  sin.  I  think  I  stand  the  same 
like  a  person  that  have  a  big  stone  upon  him 


20         APPEAL  TO  THE  READER  OH  HIS  GUILT 

head,  and  can't  walk —  want  to  fall  down.  O 
Massa,  I  have  trouble  too  much— I  no  sleep  all 
night.  ( Wept  much.)  I  hope  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  will  take  my  sins  from  me !  Suppose 
he  no  save  me,  I  shall  go  to  hell  for  ever." 

3.  Like  tne  awakened  negro,  unless  you  are 
miserably  deluded,  you  must  stand  as  condemn- 
ed before  God,  and  say,  "  I  am  guilty  of  all  the 
charges  Thou  canst  bring  against  me."  Think  of 
the  graces  you  ought  to  possess ;  as,  gratitude, 
faith,  hope,  love,  humility,  patience,  resignation. 
Have  you  possessed  them  as  they  should  be 
possessed  ?  Ah,  no !  Here  again  you  are  found 
wanting.  Think  of  the  homage  you  should  have 
paid  to  God ;  devout,  frequent,  persevering. 
But  has  not  prayer  been  often  restrained  and 
neglected  ?  or  at  other  times,  mere  formality  ? 
Here  too  you  are  found  wanting.  Think  of  re- 
solutions broken  ;  of  convictions  stifled  ;  of  pious 
desires  quenched  ;  of  solemn  impressions  worn 
off;  and  in  all  this  you  are  found  wanting.  Add 
to  all  this,  the  depravity  of  your  heart;  the  sin- 
fulness of  your  nature  ;  and  how  can  you  stand  ! 
Tried  by  a  heart-searching  God,  and  by  the 
standard  of  a  righteous  law,  there  is  not  one 
point  in  which  you  would  not  be  found  wanting. 

4.  Ah,  reader,  deceive  not  yourself  on  this 
momentous  subject !  Though  you  may  never 
have  been  profligate,  you  have  had  many  sins. 
For  through  how  many  days  and  hours  have 
you  been  a  sinner !  Had  you  had  but  one  sin 
a  day,  the  load  would  be  awful.  But  instead  of 
one  a  day,  if  you  know  yourself,  you  will  be 
sensible  you  have  had  many.  Look  back  or. 
life,  while  you  have  been  living  careless  of  God 


AND  THE  SINFULNESS  OF  HIS  HEART.  21 

and  what  has  it  been,  but  one  scene  of  sin  ? 
Look  into  your  heart;  how  many  evil  passions 
have  harboured  there  !  how  many  corrupt  dispo- 
sitions and  desires  been  cherished  !  What 
thoughts  of  vanity,  pride,  resentment,  love  of  the 
world,  and  alienation  from  a  holy  God  have 
been  allowed  to  take  up  their  abode  there  !  What 
has  your  heart  been?  What,  but  the  dwelling 
of  iniquity,  or  a  world  of  iniquity  !  changing,  in 
some  respects,  like  the  unstable  waves  of  the 
ocean,  yet  always  sinful ;  and,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, a  trifling  heart,  or  an  envious  heart, 
or  a  careless  heart,  or  a  resentful  heart,  or  an 
ungrateful  heart,  or  a  murmuring  heart,  or  a 
di.Nobedient  heart,  or  a  worldly  pleasure  loving 
heart;  or  at  the  same  moment  all  these  together. 
The  word  of  God  describestheheartas  "deceitful 
above  ail  things,  and  desperately  wicked."1  One 
way  in  which  this  wickedness  is  shown  is,  in 
contradicting  the  testimony  of  God.  He  says, 
all  are  by  nature  under  condemnation  ;  the  sin- 
ner, on  the  contrary,  thinks  himself  too  good  to 
merit  hell.  God  says,  man  has  a  bad  heart ;  the 
sinner  thinks  he  has  a  good  one.  God  declares, 
that  sin  is  as  destructive  as  the  poison  of  asps,  and 
as  odious  as  the  offensive  fumes  of  an  opened 
sepulchre;  yet  the  sinner  thinks  sin  pleasant, 
and  true  piety  dismal.  God  bids  the  sinner  re- 
pent to-day;  the  heart  deceives  him  with  the 
hope  of  repenting  hereafter.  God  says  to  man, 
Turn  or  die;  the  sinner  flatters  himself,  that  he 
may  live  careless  and  be  saved  at  last. 

5.  But  take  another  view.   Look  back  on  life  : 
you  sinned  in  childhood ;  you  have  sinned  in 

(1)  Jer.  xvii.  10. 

c3 


22  THE  SINS  OF  MEN  NUMBERLESS, 

youth;  and,  if  riper  years  have  rolled  mtz  your 
head,  have  been  a  sinner  through  those  years. 
You  have  sinned  in  thought,  you  have  sinned 
in  words  ;  "  for  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  jus- 
tified, and  by  thy  words  thou  shall  be  condemn- 
ed."1 "  The  tongue  is  a  fire,  a  world  of  iniquity  : 
so  is  the  tongue  among  our  members,  that  it  de- 
fileth  the  whole  body,  and  setteth  on  fire  the 
course  of  nature ;  and  it  is  set  on  fire  of  hell."* 
You  have  sinned  in  actions.  You  have  sinned 
by  leaving  duties  undone ;  and  you  have  sinned 
by  doing  what  God  forbade.  You  have  sinned 
against  your  fellow-creatures,  when  not  doing  to 
others  as  you  would  that  they  should  do  to 
you  ;3  when  not  loving  your  neighbour  as  your- 
self. You  have  sinned  against  your  own  soul, 
in  slighting  its  eternal  welfare ;  in  loving  this 
world  and  trifling  with  a  better.  You  have 
sinned  in  all  these  things ;  and,  as  far  as  guilt  is 
concerned,  have,  above  all,  sinned  against  God. 
You  have  sinned  against  the  Father,  by  abusing 
his  mercies,  his  time ;  by  slighting  his  word ; 
by  breaking  his  laws  ;  by  profaning  his  sabbaths. 
How  many  have  you  wasted  or  misimproved ! 
You  have  sinned  against  him  by  slighting  inter- 
course with  him.  How  many  prayerless  morn- 
ings, and  prayerless  evenings,  and  prayerless 
days  have  you  known  !  You  hare  sinned  against 
the  Son,  by  slighting  his  dying  love,  and  by 
treating  with  wicked  neglect  his  claims  upon 
your  service  and  your  heart.  You  hare  sinned 
against  the  Holy  Spirit,5  by   resisting  the   im- 

(1)  Matt.  xii.  37.    (2)  Jas.iii.16.    (3)  Matt.  Tii.  12.    ( 4)  Matt.xxii.  39. 
(5)  Of  course  by  this  expression  is  not  meant  that  peculiar  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,which  is  never  forgiven;  and  will;  which  it  is  to  be  hoped 
few  persons  are  now  chargeable,  except  the  most  hardened  infidels. 


VARIED,  AND  GREAT.  23 

pressions  he  produced  in  your  mind  ;  by  griev- 
ing and  quenching  the  Holy  Ghost.  Take  such 
a  view,  and  are  your  sins  but  as  few  as  your 
days  ?  Rather  are  they  not  as  numberless  as 
your  minutes?  In  one  view  only,  passing 
others  by,  they  literally  are  as  many  as  your 
waking  minutes.  God's  first  and  greatest  com- 
mand is,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind."1 

While  you  have  been  living  without  God, 
every  minute  of  life  this  precept  has  been  bro- 
ken. Thus  every  minute  of  life  has  wit- 
nessed a  fresh  violation  of  a  just  and  holy,  a 
righteous  and  reasonable  law,  which  ought  every 
moment  to  have  been  obeyed,  but  which  has 
been  every  moment  broken.  Thus  every  minute 
of  your  waking  existence,  has  in  fact  been  a  sea- 
son of  sin. 

6.  Sin  is  not  a  trifling  evil ;  nor  are  the  sins 
of  men  light.  One  sin  undid  the  world,  when 
our  first  parents  transgressed  in  their  pleasant 
Paradise :  that  one  transgression  caused  death 
and  all  our  woe  :  "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  and  death  by  sin."2 

When  the  Lord  Jesus  in  figurative  language 
describes  the  evil  of  sin,  he  compares  it  to  an 
immense  debt,  a  debt  that  hardly  the  wealth  of 
empires  would  be  sufficient  to  discharge,  and 
that  no  humble  individual  ever  could  pay.  He 
compares  it  to  ten  thousand  talents  :3  to  a  sum 
of  money  equal  in  weight,  if  in  gold,  to  nearly 
forty  thousand  pounds,  and  in  value  to  almost 

(1)  Luke,  x.  27.  (2)  Rom.  v.  12.  (3)  Matt,  xriri  24,  &e. 


24  A  SINFUL  STATE,  A  STATE 

two  millions.  He  teaches  us,  that  this  debt  has 
been  contracted  by  every  human  being ;  for  the 
lessons  of  forgiveness  which  he  meant  for  all, 
are  plainly  grounded  on  the  fact,  that  all  are 
such  debtors.  You  then,  reader,  are  such  a 
debtor.  Your  numberless  sins  have  in  them  an 
unutterable  and  fatal  malignity,  sufficient  to 
undo  your  soul  for  ever. 

7.  The  scriptures  describe  mankind  not  only 
as  in  a  state  of  guilt,  but  also  of  condemnation 
and  ruin.  "Now  we  know  that  what  things  so- 
ver  the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  who  are  under 
the  law  :  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and 
all  the  world  may  become  guilty  before  God. 
For  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God.1  For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without 
law,  shall  also  perish  without  law  ;  and  as  many 
as  have  sinned  in  the  law,  shall  be  judged  by  the 
law.2  The  wages  of  sin  is  death  ;  but  the  gift  of 
God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.8  As  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law, 
are  under  the  curse  :  for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is 
every  one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which 
are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them.4 
And  you  hath  he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins  ;  wherein  in  time  past  ye 
walked  according  to  the  course  of  this  world, 
according  to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air, 
the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of 
disobedience  :  among  whom  also  we  all  had  our 
conversation  in  times  past  in  the  lusts  of  our 
flesh,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the 


(Jj^m.j".  1?,5&.    £5  Sum.; li.  12.    (3)  Rom.  vi.  23.    (4)  Gal.  iii.  10. 


OP  CONDEMNATION.  25 

mind ;  and  were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath, 
even  as  others."1 

It  is  an  important  inquiry,  what  is  the  curse 
of  the  holy  law  which  men  have  violated,  and 
under  whose  doom  they  have  fallen?  Is  it 
temporal  evil  and  natural  death?  or  is  it  the 
everlasting  ruin  of  the  soul,  the  being  cast  soul 
and  body  into  hell  ?  It  may  include  the  former  ; 
but  that  the  former  is  not  principally  intended 
is  evident,  because  Christ  is  said  to  have  "  re- 
deemed us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being 
made  a  curse  for  us;"'2  but  Christ  has  not  re- 
deemed the  heirs  of  grace  from  temporal  evils 
and  natural  death.  Like  others  they  are  affiict- 
«d,  and  like  others  die.  This  then  is  not  the 
;urse  under  which  man  has  fallen ;  but  Christ 
is  said  to  have  saved  his  followers  from  the 
wrath  to  come  ;3  to  have  made  peace  by  the  blood 
of  his  cross  ;4  to  have  reconciled  them  to  God  ;5 
and  to  have  obtained  redemption  and  forgive- 
ness for  them.6  This  curse  therefore  is  the  wrath 
of  God.  It  is  everlasting  banishment  from  him. 
It  is  the  direful  punishment  of  sin.  It  is  the 
damnation  of  hell.  This  is  called  the  second 
death  ;7  and  death,  as  opposed  to  endless  life.* 
Every  thing  short  of  sinless  obedience  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  would  leave  man  under  the 
curse  of  God's  holy  and  violated  law.  Its  curse 
is  awful,  though  by  millions  little  feared;  the 
soul  that  lies  under  its  weight  is  separated  from 
God  ;  is  exposed  to  his  wrath  ;  and  must  encoun- 
ter his  frown.  Its  hopes  are  deception  ;  and  its 
end,  if  it  continue  what  it  is,  will  be  despair.    It 

(1)  Eph.  ii  1—3.     (2)  Gal.  iii.  13.     (3)  1  Thess.  i.  10.      (4)  Col.  i.  20. 

(5)  Rom.  t.  10.  (6)  Heb.  ix.  12.  Eph.  i.  7.  (7)  Rev.  xxi.  8. 

\ii)  Roin.  ri.  23. 


26  WHO  ARE  THE  WICKED  ? 

is  ready  for  hell.  This  danger  is  not  fanciful, 
but  real  now.  Death  will  seal  the  condemna- 
tion ;  judgment  will  ratify  the  sentence;  and 
eternity  will  witness  its  execution. 

8.  Ask  the  question  now,  who  are  the  wicked 
and  undone  ?  and  it  may  be  answered,  "  The 
unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Be  not  deceived:  neither  fornicators, 
nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor 
abusers  of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves, 
nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor 
extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."'- 
"The  works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which  are 
these:  adultery,  fornication,  uncieanness,  la- 
sciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  vari- 
ance, emulations,  wrath,  strife, seditions,  heresies, 
envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  revellings,  and 
such  like  :  of  the  which  I  tell  you  before,  as  I  have 
also  told  you  in  time  past,  that  they  which  do  such 
things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."* 

But  repeat  the  question,  who  are  the  wicked  ? 
Are  they  those  only  that  have  been  mentioned  ? 
Ah  no,  not  less  wicked  than  many  of  them  is  the 
moralist,  who,  however  respectable  in  the  do- 
mestic circle,  or  in  the  neighbourhood,  has  a 
heart  estranged  from  God.  The  prodigal  was 
wicked,5  when  a  wanderer  from  his  father,  what- 
ever his  gay  companions  might  say  of  his  friend- 
ship or  good-nature.  The  young  ruler  was 
wicked,  when  he  preferred  his  wealth  to  the  Sa- 
viour and  his  service,4  notwithstanding  the 
moral  excellences  that  adorned,  to  a  certain 
extent,  his  character.     So,  though  no  stains  ol 

(1)  Cor.  vi.  9,  10.  (2)  Gal.  v.  19—21.  (3)  Luke,  xv.  11,  &c. 

(4)  Mark,  x.  22. 


WICKEDNESS  OF  NEGLECTING  GOD.  27 

open  immorality  should  have  blackened  yours, 
while  a  neglector  of  the  gospel,  you  have  been 
wicked ;  and  if  to  that  neglect  has  been  added 
the  open  crimes  of  the  lewd,  the  drunkard,  or 
the  profane,  there  has  been  so  much  additional 
wickedness. 

9.  If  you  have  lived  careless  of  religion  you 
have  been  wicked ;  for  what  a  good,  and  gra- 
cious, and  majestic  God  you  have  slighted  ! 
-Against  what  infinite  excellence  you  have  rebel- 
led !  and  on  what  infinite  goodness  cast  the 
contempt  of  giddy  indifference  and  base  ingrati- 
tude! You  have  been  wicked  ;  for  what  a  Sa- 
viour you  have  neglected !  what  love  you  have 
treated  with  unconcern !  love  that  fills  even 
heaven  with  wonder;  into  which  angels  desire 
to  look  ;  and  which  will  fill  eternity  with  praise! 
Yet  all  this  love  has  had  no  charms  for  you ; 
and  has  by  you  been  neglected  through  many 
long  rebellious  years.  You  have  been  wicked ; 
for  what  a  gracious  Spirit  you  have  resisted  ! 
the  influences  of  that  Spirit,  who  has  trained 
millions  for  immortality !  yet  that  Spirit  you 
have  grieved  by  wicked  neglect !  What  impor- 
tant convictions  you  have  stifled  !  What  impor- 
tant mercies  abused  !  What  precious  sabbaths 
wasted  !  What  gracious  invitations  slighted  ! 
What  calls,  what  promises,  what  warnings  dis- 
regarded! What  heavenly  preparatives  for 
immortal  life,  treated  with  an  unconcern  as  cruel 
to  your  own  soul,  as  it  has  been  ungrateful  to 
God !  Had  Sodom  enjoyed  your  mercies, 
Sodom  might  have  repented  and  been  saved. 
And  for  what  has  all  this  been  done  !  What 
hateful  things,  or  what  trifles  at  the  best,  have 


28  SATAN  RULES  THE  IRRELIGIOUS. 

you  preferred  to  the  love,  and  service,  and  fa* 
vour  of  your  Creator!  What  a  complication, 
what  a  continuity  of  mercies  have  you  in  fact 
baffled !  You  may  say  with  the  dying  profli- 
gate, "  I  have  been  too  strong  for  Omnipotence, 
I  have  plucked  down  ruin.  What  has  God  not 
done  to  save  and  bless  me  !"  and  yet  I  have 
slighted  all !  And  have  you  not  been  wicked  ? 
Your  delay  has  been  wicked  delay;  and  your 
days  of  unconcern  wicked  days. 

While  thus  living  without  God  in  the  world, 
little  as  you  have  suspected  it,  and  much  as  you 
may  disbelieve  the  assertion,  you  have  really 
been  living  in  a  state  of  subjection  to  Satan.  He 
prompts  the  profligate  and  guides  the  trifler. 
He  is  described  as  the  god  of  this  world,  who 
works  in  the  children  of  disobedience.1  Notice 
the  expression,  the  children  of  disobedience. 
All  who  disobey  the  glorious  gospel,  whether  by 
open  hostility,  or  by  trifling  with  its  claims  upon 
the  heart.  And  so  vast  is  the  number,  that  when 
an  apostle  said  of  the  little  flock  of  Christ,  "  We 
are  of  God,"  he  added,  "and  the  whole  world  lieth 
in  wickedness/'2  or  lieth  under  the  power  of  the 
wicked  one.  Could  you  hear  the  infernal  spirit 
say,  "I  rule  thy  heart;  thou  art  a  child  of  mine. 
Like  me  thou  rebellest  against  our  common 
Creator.  I  am  preparing  for  thy  reception,  and 
expecting  thy  coming;  and  soon  thou  wilt  be 
like  me  in  this  abyss  of  woe."  Could  you  hear 
all  this,  how  would  you  be  alarmed  !  yet  all  this 
might  in  effect  be  said. 

10.  The  aggravations  of  sin  are  numberless. 
The  God  you  have  sinned  against  is  the  Author 

(1)  2  Cor.  iv.  4.  Eph.  ii.  2.  (2)  1  John,  v.  14. 


AGGRAVATIONS  OF  SIN.  29 

of  your  existence  ;,the  Giver  of  your*blessings  ; 
the  Source  of  all  your  mercies :  the  eternal  God, 
who  has  pitied  your  soul,  and  who  claims  and 
deserves  your  utmost  gratitude,  and  most  fervent 
love.  You  are  in  his  sight  an  insect,  a  worm,  a 
nothing;  just  started  into  life,  yet  scarcely  had 
you  begun  to  live,  before  you  began  to  sin.  O 
patient  mercy,  that  bears  with  such  ingratitude! 
O  miserable  man,  that  begins  to  sin  so  soon  ! 

11.  Not  only  have  you  the  guilt  of  all  your 
transgressions,  but  the  guilt  of  alienation  and 
estrangement  from  God,  and  even  of  enmity 
against  him.  Man's  misery  began  in  leaving 
God  ;  and  this  departure  is  complete  in  heart 
and  in  life,  and  has  proceeded  till  man  is  aliena- 
ted from  God,  and  an  enemy  to  him  in  his  mind 
by  wicked  works.1  In  wandering  from  God, 
you  broke  off  connexion  with  him.  You  were 
formed  to  love  him,  but  you  have  not  loved  him. 
God  created  a  world,  that  that  world  might  love 
and  serve  him  ;  but  that  world  has  .become, 
through  sin,  a  world  of  enemies  and  rebels,  and 
you  have  been  one  of  them.  Could  you  create  a 
single  being,  would  you  not  claim  that  being's 
service,  gratitude,  and  love  ?  and  pronounce  it 
vile  and  wicked  ingratitude  and  rebellion,  if 
these  were  denied  you?  and  still  worse  if  that 
being  set  himself  in  open  opposition  to  your 
pleasure  and  authority  ?  Yet  all  this  you  have 
done  to  God.  Did  you  ever  do  o:>c  action  out  of 
simple  love  to  God?  perhaps  you  say,  "I  am 
charitable  and  honest."  W  hat  of  this,  while  you 
are  a  rebel  against  God  !  You  thought,  perhaps, 
to  secure  heaven,  and  thus,  as  it  were,  to  buy 

(1)  Co!,  i.  21, 
D 


30  EVIDENCES  OF  ALIENATION  FROM  GOD. 

blessedness  by  your  chanty  ;»but  do  you  buy  an 
article  out  of  love  to  the  seller,  or  to  suit  your 
own  convenience  ? 

12.  This  dreadful  and  ruinous  estrangement 
from  God,  is  evidenced  in  many  ways,  to  some  ot 
which  allusion  has  been  already  made.  The 
mind  capable  of  knowing  him,  seeks  not  ac- 
quaintance with  him.  God  is  not  in  all  its 
thoughts.  Sinners  think  not  of  him,  but  choose 
any  subject  to  occupy  their  thoughts,  sooner 
than  God.  This  marks  the  alienation  of  the 
heart  from  him.  What  we  love,  we  love  to 
think  of.  What  we  hate  or  disregard,  we  banish 
from  our  thoughts.  When  his  name  is  profaned, 
his  sabbaths  broken,  his  book  slighted,  it  marks 
the  alienation  of  the  heart.  These  are  but 
streams  from  that  fountain  of  wickedness.  We 
are  anxious  for  the  favour  of  those  we  love,  but 
when  there  is  no  love  in  the  heart,  we  care  little 
for  the  smile  or  frown  of  one  we  neither  love  nor 
dread.  When  there  is  little  concern  for  God's 
favour;*  no  anxious  inquiry  after  it;  when  his 
love  is  not  prized,  nor  his  anger  dreaded,  so 
dreaded  as  to  cause  the  soul,  at  all  events,  to  flee 
from  it;  there  too  is  alienation  from  God.  This 
indifference  is  but  another  stream  from  the 
fountain  of  inward  wickedness.  When  his 
notice  is  not  considered,  nor  his  kingdom 
sought ;  when  his  beloved  Son  is  not  welcomed 
as  the  treasure  of  the  soul ;  when  some  of  his 
laws  are  broken  without  compunction,  and 
others  left  undone  without  concern ;  these  are  but 
so  many  indications  of  a  heart  at  enmity  with 
God.  When  trifles  are  preferred  to  his  favour, 
and  communion  with  him  is  disregarded ;  this 


MEN  MUST  MEET  GOD  HEREAFTER.     31 

m;irks  enmity  lo  him.  We  seek  no  intimacy 
with  those  we  hate.  When  it  is  plain  that  the 
soul  can  love  and  hate,  hope  and  desire,  fear 
and  prize,  yet  that  it  loves  not  God  nor  what  he 
loves,  hates  not  what  he  hates,  desires  not  his 
favour,  fears  not  his  displeasure,  prizes  not 
his  salvation;  how  blind  is  the  sinner,  that 
cannot  perceive  in  his  own  heart,  the  fatal  evi- 
dences that  he  is  an  enemy  of  God  ! 

13.  While  such,  reader,  has  been  your  state, 
you  have  been  a  mere  cumberer  of  the  ground  ; 
and  have  lived  in  vain,  or,  in  reality,  worse  than 
in  vain.  Past  years  have  brought  you  no  real 
good  ;  and  you  have  brought  to  your  Creator  and 
Redeemer,  no  revenue  of  praise.  No  Saviour 
has  been  gained  by  you  a  sinner;  no  pardon 
for  your  transgressions  obtained ;  no  title  to 
eternal  life  acquired.  Living  worse  than  in 
vain,  you  have  heaped  up  wrath  against  the 
day  of  wrath;  and  treasured  up  for  yourself 
indignation,  tribulation,  and  anguish.1 

14.  Guilty  as  you  are,  you  must  nevertheless 
meet  your  God.  How  solemn  will  be  that  im- 
portant, and  not  distant  interview,  when  you,  a 
rebellious  child  of  man,  shall  stand  before  the 
awful  Judge  of  earth  and  heaven  !  How  will 
you  meet  him !  Contrast  his  purity  and  your 
corruption;  his  hcliness  and  your  sinfulness; 
his  love  and  your  ingratitude;  and  how  will  you 
meet  him !  Consider  his  mercies  and  your 
abuse  of  them  ;  his  commands  and  your  dis- 
obedience; his  justice  and  your  rebellion;  and 
how  will  you  meet  him  !  If  you  continue  as 
you  are,  how  will  you  go  before  him  !     W^hat 

(1)  Rom.  ii.  5,  &c. 


32  SERIOUS  EXPOSTULATION. 

can  you  expect  but  the  sentence — Depart?  Had 
you  the  righteousness  of  all  the  saints,  would  it 
blot  out  the  guilt  of  fifteen  or  twenty,  or  more 
years  of  alienation  and  rebellion  ?  Had  you 
the  wealih  of  worlds,  would  it  pay  your  enor- 
mous and  ever-growjag  debt?  What  can  you 
do?  You  cannot  undo  the  pUst.  Will  years 
of  sorrow  wash  away  transgression  ?  Will 
floods  of  tears?  Ah  no  !  be  not  so  deluded  ! 
Would  future  obedience  cancel  past  transgres- 
sions? If!  perfect  it  would  only  be  what  every 
future  moment  claimed,  and  would  pay  nothing 
of  the  past  I  But  will  it  be  perfect  ?  If  you  be- 
come a  child  of  God,  will  not  defect  still  mingle 
with  all  you  t\o  and  are?  Do  what  you  can, 
unless  brought  to  Christ,  the  debt  remains. 
Every  sinful  thought,  and  word,  and  action ; 
every  sin  of*every  kind  ;  all  you  remember,  and 
the  many  more  that  you  have  forgotten,  but  that 
God  remembers  ;  all  these,  unless  you  become 
interested  in  the  Saviour,  will  be  brought  into 
judgment  against  you.  Can  you  flee  where  God 
is  not  at  hand  ?  Ascend  into  heaven  ;  hide  be- 
neath the  mountains,  or  in  the  depths  of  the 
ocean's  bed  ;  and  he  would  find  you  there.  Can 
you  c'oak  your  transgressions  or  conceal  them  ? 
Ah  no!  they  all  glare  before  the  Searcher  of 
Hearts,  in  all  their  fearful  malignity.  For  let  it 
be  deeply  impressed  upon  your  heart  and  con- 
science, that  as  you  are  a  guilty  creature,  so  you 
are  a  condemned  creature,  while  you  have  no 
saving  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  and  thus  are  in 
fact  a  stranger  to  heartfelt  piety. 

15.  O  reader,  this  is  \ourcondition,  while  you 
are  not  united  to  Christ  by  a  living  faith !     But 


VARIOUS  DELUSIONS  NOTICED.  33 

perhaps  you  cling  to  some  broken  reeds  of  falla- 
cious hope.  You  have  some  pleas  to  offer,  to 
show  that  your  clanger  is  not  so  extreme.  Bring 
them  forward,  and  try  them  by  God's  word. 

Perhaps  you  plead,  "  I  have  not  sinned  greatly 
nor  often."  Poor  self-deceiver !  Can  any  sins 
be  little  committed  by  an  ungrateful  worm 
against  an  infinitely  good  and  glorious  God  ? 
But  suppose  your  plea  were  correct,  and  your 
sins  few,  it  avails  you  nothing  ;  for  God  declares, 
that  his  wrath  is  revealed  against  all  ungodli- 
ness ;l  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  f  that  every 
one  is  cursed  that  continueth  not  in  all  things 
written  in  his  law  to  do  them  ;3  and  he  who 
should  keep  the  whole  law,  but  offend  in  one 
point,  is  guilty  of  all.4  Were  your  sins  small, 
in  those  awful  denunciations  the  smallest  are 
included.  But  you  plead,  "I  have  repented." 
If  you  have,  will  repentance  pay  a  creditor  ?  or 
gain  release  for  a  criminal  condemned  to  exile  or 
to  death  ?  Ask  a  criminal  in  such  a  situation. 
No  more  will  it  avail  in  your  case ;  and  no  more 
will  promises  not  to  offend  for  the  future,  blot 
out  the  guilt  of  the  past.  But  you  say,  "  I  am 
as  good  as  my  neighbours ;  better  than  many." 
Be  it  so ;  but  if  they  are  unconverted,  they  are 
perishing  too,  for  cursed  is  every  one  that  vio- 
lates the  divine  law. 

Will  it  comfort  you  if  you  sink  under  the 
curse  of  God's  violated  law  to  the  eternal  prison, 
to  meet  some  of  your  neighbours  there?  But 
you  urge,  "God  is  merciful.  He  did  not  make 
man  to  damn  him."  This  is  true:  but  God  is 
just  and  true,  as  well  as  merciful ;  and  if  man 

(1)  Rom.  i.  18.      (2)  Rom.  vi.  33.      (3)  Gal.  iii.  10.      (4)  James,  ii.  fr 

d3 


34        APPEAL  TO  THE  READER  ON  HIS  STATE. 

continue  an  impenitent  sinner,  God  will  con- 
demn him,  though  he  did  not  make  him  lor  that 
purpose.  Satan,  when  commencing;  rebellion 
against  God,  might  have  said,  '•  God  is  merciful 
He  did  not  make  angels  to  punish  them."  But 
though  he  did  not,  yet  when  they  fell,  that  firo 
was  prepared  for  the  devil  anil  his  angels,  into 
which  the  impenitent  and  unpardoned  will  also 
eternally  sink. 

16.  It  is  a  solemn  question  for  you,  "What  is 
my  state?  Hope  or  despair ?"  Till  you  come 
to  Christ  it  is  despair.  Not  despair  that  mercy 
is  not  ready  to  receive  you  ;  hut  despair  of  being 
saved  in  your  present  condition.  "  What  is  my 
state?  Is  it  p<irliil  ruin  or  utter  ruin  ?"  The 
answer  of  truth  and  love  to  you  must  be,  it  is  a 
state  of  utter  ruin.  Hence,  you  need  the  Saviour 
and  the  blessings  of  his  salvation.  While  you 
continue  in  such  a  state,  you  are  as  helpless  as 
you  are  ruined.  You  are  like  a  condemned 
criminal,  shut  up  in  a  cell,  which  he  can  never 
break,  but  whose  gloomy  door  mercy  can  open; 
and  in  your  case  mercy  waits  to  open  a  door  of 
hope.  Without  this,  however,  you  are  helpless. 
On  you  is  guilt.  Before  you  is  ruin.  Your 
own  conscience  convicts  you.  God's  law  con. 
deinns  you.  No  power  of  yours  can  avert  the 
doom.-  Fetch  back  your  wasted  sabbaths,  if  you 
can  Unsay  your  words;  unthink  your  thoughts; 
undo  your  deeds.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
you  may  blot  out  your  own  guilt.  Then,  without 
coming  10  Chri.-t,  you  may  cancel  your  trans- 
gressions f:om  the  uook  of  God's  remembrance, 
but  never  till  then. 

O  dinner!  think  while  you  live  without  heart- 


TUE  IMPENITENT  DESERVEDLY  RUINED.        35 

felt  piety,  you  are  a  condemned  creature,  and 
justly  condemned.  Was  the  Israelite  who  re- 
fused to  consecrate  the  hest  part  of  his  flock  to 
God,  under  a  curse?  And  are  not  you  deserv- 
ing of  a  curse,  who  have  transgressed  God's 
laws  a  thousand  times,  and  delay  or  refuse  to 
yield  him  your  heart?  While  yon"  will  not  love 
him,  w  ill  not  serve  him  ;  w  ill  not  come  to  Christ ; 
will  not  give  up  the  world  for  him  who  died  for 
man  upon  the  cross,  do  you  not  deserve  to  he 
accursed  s  ;ind  you  are  so  doubly.  You  lie 
under  the  curse  of  the  l;iw,  and  the  curse  of  the 
gospel ;  for  the  gospel  has  its  curse,  its  anathema. 
If  any  man  lo\e  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  let 
him  be  anathema  maranatha.1  Thus  you  have 
not  one  blessing.  .Christ  said,  Tf  I  wash  thee 
not  thou  hast  no  part  with  me.*  No  purl :  none 
whatever.  Neither  pardon  nor  peace ;  neither 
divine  favour  nor  undeceiving  hope.  Not  one 
good  in  possession,  or  in  siore.  All  ruin  now; 
all  darkness  and  gloom  in  prospect.  Not  one 
friend  secured,  hut  exposed  to  every  evil.  While 
in  this  condition  the  Saviour  who  pitied  must 
condemn  you.  You  are  worse  than  they  who 
cried,  "  Xot  this  man,  but  Barabbas ;"  for  they 
knew  not  what  they  did.  The  law  is  against 
you;  for  you  have  broken  its  commandments, 
and  lie  under  its  curse.  The  gospel  is  against 
you  ;  for  you  slight  its  blessings,  and  neglecting 
its  Author  expose  yourself  to  its  anathema.  The 
wrath  of  God  is  upon  you  ;  and  God,  that  would 
have  compassion  on  you,  is  against  you. 

17.  Think  not  that  the  wrath  of  God  is  fury 
or  passion.     Add  not  to  your  sins  by  forming 

(1)  1  Cor.  xvi.  22.  (2)  John,  xiiL  8. 


36  NATURE  OP  DIVINE  WRATH. 

such  views  of  your  awful  Creator.  No,  it  is  not 
fury ;  it  is  not  the  rage  of  weak  passion ;  but  it 
is  calm,  determined,  dreadful  wrath.  An  awful 
narrative  may  perhaps  illustrate  this  subject:  — 
History  relates,  that  an  accusation  was  brought 
to  an  Irish  judge,  charging  his  own  son  with 
murder.  The  afflicted  parent,  regarding  only 
the  claims  of  justice,  had  his  son  apprehended. 
The  young  man  was  tried,  convicted,  and  his 
father  sat  as  judge  when  he  was  doomed  to  die. 
His  frantic  mother  and  other  relatives  sought  to 
.snatch  him  from  the  ignominious  death  to  which 
he  was  sentenced,  but  in  vain.  While  the  father 
mourned,  the  judge  was  inflexible  ;  and  the 
young  man  suffered  death  close  by  the  house  of 
his  agonized  parent.  He,  after  displaying  such 
invincible  regard  to  the  claims  of  the  law,  which 
forbids  a  murderer  to  live,  soon  followed  his 
wretched  son  to  the  grave,  dying  probably  of  a 
broken  heart. 

Like  this  is  the  wrath  of  God  :  not  fury,  not 
passion;  but  a  calm  determined  regard  to  jus- 
tice and  holiness,  that  prompts  him  to  be  in 
flexible  in  punishing  the  impenitent  transgressor 
If  God  be  but  as  firm  in  justice  and  judgment 
as  the  afflicted  parent,  what,  sinner, must  become 
of  you,  if  you  die  without  a  Saviour  ? 

IS.  While  you  continue  unpardoned  and  im- 
penitent heaven  is  shut  against  you.  Had  you 
reached  the  pearly  gates  of  the  celestial  city,  and 
been  refused  admittance  there,  how  would  you 
feel!  but  they  are  shut,  and  will,  unless  you 
welcome  Christ,  be  shut  for  ever.  While  in 
such  a  state  salan  is  your  master.  Could  you 
behold  that  infernal  one,  just  ready  to  drag  you 


THE  IMPENITENT  IN  CONSTANT  DANGER.   37 

to  perdition,  how  would  you  tremble  with  tnrrid 
anguish  !  yet  continue  as  you  are,  and  you  must 
see  him  at  another  day.  For  hell,  while  you  are 
unforgiven,  is  your  home;  and  death  is  hasten- 
ing to  you,  to  cut  you  down  and  send  j'ou  there. 
Many  are  already  there  ;  and  you  are  liable  to 
the  same  ruin.  Every  unpardoned  soul,  every 
unconverted  soul,  is  exposed  to  all  this  danger. 
Sin  has  exposed  you  to  it.  Alienation  from 
God  has  fitted  you  for  eternal  banishment  from 
him;  and  death,  in  an  impenitent  state,  must 
seal  your  endless  doom. 

19.  Think  too  that  this  danger  is  constant 
danger.  No  moment  of  life  is  a  moment  of 
safety.  Awake,  asleep  at  home,  abroad,  you 
are  always  in  danger.  By  day,  by  niy;ht,  you 
have  no  security,  But  as  without  Christ  yon 
are  sure  to  perish,  so  you  may  perish  any  mo. 
ment;  and  perishing  once  you  are  lost  for  ever. 
O  what  a  state  is  this  to  live  in  !  yet,  reader,  you 
have  lived  in  it  all  your  careless  years!  and  if 
yet  in  your  sins  you  are  living  in  it  still.  One 
dreary  winter's  day  without  a  simple  comfort; 
food,  or  clothing,  or  fire,  or  habitation,  would  be 
a  long  and  miserable  day  ;  but  what  will  eter- 
nity be  without  a  comfort  or  a  blessing  !  A 
year  spent  without  a  friend,  or  intercourse  wilh 
any  human  being,  would  be  a  long  and  gloomy 
year,  and  seem  like  ages  in  length  ;  but  what 
will  be  an  eternily  of  such  gloom  !  It  is  related 
that  an  offer  was  once  made  of  a  handsome  re- 
ward, if  not  a  competency  for  life,  to  any  person 
who  would  spend  seven  years  in  utter  solitude, 
during  which  no  intercourse  should  be  had  with 
any  human  being ;  but  every  needful  accommo- 


38  EVILS  OF  UNFORGIVEN  SIN. 

dation  should  be  provided.  Some  attempted  to 
earn  the  promised  reward,  but  no  one  had  forti- 
tude sufficient  to  secure  it  on  the  terms  proposed. 
To  pass  seven  years  without  seeing  the  counte- 
nance or  hearing  the  voice  of  a  friend,  was  too 
severe  a  trial  for  human  perseverance.  But 
what  will  eternity  be  without  a  blessing  or  a 
friend  !  and  every  day  you  live  without  a  Sa- 
viour, you  are  in  danger  of  sinking  into  such  an 
eternity. 

While  you  slight  the  divine  Redeemer,  your 
condition  is  like  that  of  a  condemned  malefactor, 
mortally  sick  of  the  plague.  Death  threatens 
him  in  a  double  form  :  both  the  plague  and  the 
gallows.  So  you  are  exposed  to  condemnation 
as  an  actual  transgressor,  and  dying  of  the  dis- 
ease of  sin,  that  would  for  ever  shut  you  from 
the  realms  of  holiness  •,  but  Jesus  Christ  would 
give  you  a  double  cure. 

20.  O  consider  it  then  as  a  decided  point, 
that  nothing  can-  benefit  you  without  the  forgive- 
ness of  sin.  Look  at  a  perishing  sinner.  Why 
lias  he  no  true  peace  ?  Because  sin  lies  on  his 
soul.  Why  lies  he  under  God's  frown  and  fear- 
ful wrath  ?  Because  his  sins  are  charged  to  his 
account.  Why  must  he  soon  be  judged,  and 
hear  the  doom,  Depart,  and  die  eternally  ?  Be- 
cause sin  is  imputed  to  him,  and  will  eternally 
load  his  guilty  and  neglected  soul.  Why  must 
he  once  fixed  there  never  hope  ?  never  have  ease, 
peace,  comfort?  Because  his  sins  will  be  for 
ever  imputed  to  him.  But  reverse  the  scene. 
"Blessed  are  they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven, 
and  whose  sins  are  covered.    Blessed  is  the  man 


BLESSINGS  OF  PARDON.  39 

to  whom  the  XiOrd  will  not  impute  sin."1  Why 
hns  the  Christian  peace?  Because  the  Lord 
will  not  impute  sin  unto  him.  Why  can  he  view 
God  as  his  Father  ?  Because  no  load  of  unfor- 
£iven  sin  separates  him  from  his  heavenly  Fa- 
ther's love.  Why  is  he  blessed  in  all  thev  bless- 
edness of  a  Saviour's  favour  ?  Because  sin  is  no 
more  charged  to  his  account.  Why  does  he  not 
fear  hell  ?  Because  the  lond  that  would  have 
sunk  him  there  is  gone.  Why  does  he  antici- 
pate heaven?  Why  will  he  meet  the  solemni- 
ties of  judgment  with  tranquillity  ?  Because  no 
sin  lies  unpardoned  on  his  soul.  He  has  wash- 
ed his  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb.  He  is  prepared  to  join  in  the  ce- 
lestial song,  "Thou  art  worthy,  for  thou  wast 
slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood. 
Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive 
power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength, 
and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing."2 

Reader,  what  is  your  state?  O  pray  that  the 
Christian's  privileged  condition  may  be  yours  ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

RELIGION  DESCRIBED. 

1.  It  is  here  designed  to  represent  to  you  the 
nature  of  true  religion.  The  religion  here  re- 
commended to  you,  is  not  a  mere  form  or  a  pro- 
fession that  may  be  worn  through  life,  but 
which  would  leave  you  helpless  in  a  dying  hour. 
it  is  that  heartfelt  piety,  which  will  yield  you 

(1)  Rom.  iv.  7,  8.  (2)  Rev.  v.  9.  12. 


40  RELIGION  MAN'S  CHIEF  INTEREST. 

. 

support  in  death,  and  bless  you  when  you  lie  co- 
vered wilh  the  ground,  and  forgotten  in  thegrave; 
which  will  pass  the  test  of  final  judgment;  which 
the  eternal  Judge  will  acknowledge  to  be  ge-  * 
nuine  and  divine;  and  which  will  insure  your 
welcome  to  the  realms  of  glory.  The  possession 
of  this  blessing  is  your  own  chief  interest.  '*  If 
thou  be  wise  thou  shalt  be  wise  for  thyself;  but 
if  thou  scornest  thou  alone  shalt  bear  it."  l  If  you 
receive  the  Saviour  you  will  be  blessed;  but  if 
you  slight  Him  others  will  receive  Him,  and 
God  will  not  want  children,  nor  the  Lord  Jesus 
disciples,  nor  heaven  inhabitants,  because  you 
may  neglect  or  refuse  the  great  salvation. 

2.  All  the  distinctions  between  intelligent 
beings  throughout  God's  vast  creation,  at  length 
resolve  into  two;  one  part  are  his  obedient  chil- 
dren, the  other  wicked  and  rebellious  enemies. 
Thus  it  is  in  the  world  unseen.  In  heaven  are 
saints  and  angels,  all  the  children  of  God  ;  in  hell 
are  demons  and  the  damned,  all  his  enemies. 
There  is  no  middle  class.  On  earth  it  is  the 
same.  Here  there  are.  the  converted  and  the  un- 
converted. To  which  of  these  vast  bodies  do 
you  belong?  As  there  are,  thus  viewed,  but 
two  classes  in  God's  creation;  so  there  are  but 
two  states  for  mankind  in  the  present  world,  in 
one  or  the  other  of  which  every  child  of  man  is 
found.  One  is  the  state  of  nature,  the  other  that 
of  grace.  Each  is  a  state.  It  cannot  be  asserted 
of  any  one,  that  he  is  a  Christian  to-day,  and  no 
Christian  to-morrow;  a  Christian  when  the 
feelings  are  warm,  and  no  Christian  when  they 
flag;    safe  when  the  passions  are  roused,  and 

(1)  Prov.  ix.  12. 


WHAT  IS  RELIGION  ?  41 

lost  when  they  are  dull:  but  every  one  is  either 
a  humble  child  of  God,  saved  in  Christ,  or  an 
unpardoned  sinner  perishing  for  want  of  an  in- 
terest in  the  Saviour.  The  children  of  men  are 
thus  divided  into  two  immense  bodies.1  One 
part  "  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,"*  the  other 
unrenewed  in  heart  and  mind.  In  these  classes 
there  is  much  variety.  Of  the  former  some  bear 
of  the  fruits  of  grace  a  hundred  fold,  while 
others  produce  but  thirty.5  In  the  latter  many, 
though  not  pious,  are  amiable  and  moral.  Many 
things,  deserving  of  esteem,  may  be  common  to 
both,  though  in  that,  which  will  form  an  eternal 
distinction,  so  wide  a  difference  exists.  Thus 
ihe  Christian  cannot  be  a  drunkard  ;  the  mer^  mo- 
ralist may  not:  the  Christian  roust  be  honest, 
true,  benevolent;4  the  mere  moralist,  with  an 
unchanged  heart,  may  be  all  this. 

3.  What  then  is  religion?  It  consists  in  the 
sincere,  the  heartfelt  surrender  of  our  whole  selves 
to  the  ever  blessed  God,  as  he  is  displayed  to  vs 
in  his  gospel.  The  soul  is  committed  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  saved  through  his  death. 
his  merits,  and  his  living  care.5  The  heart  is 
devoted  to  him,  as  its  rightful  owner.6  The  will 
is  subjected  to  him;  and  the  Christian  would  have 
its  subjection  to  the  divine  will,  perfect  and  entire. 
The  mind  learns  of  him  ;  the  powers  of  the  body 
are  consecrated  to  his  service ;  and  the  life  is  re- 
gulated by  his  precepts.7     To  win  Christ,  and  to 

(1)  Matt.  vii.  13,  14.  Matt,  xiii  24,  &c.  John.  i.  11—13.  1  John,  iii.  10 
1  John,  v.  19.      (2)  2  Peter,  i.  4.     (3)  Matt.  xiii.  8. 
(4)  Though  some  may  profess  religion,  that  do  not  in  their  conduct 
ma1  ifest  its  principles,  it  is  evident,  that  such  are  mere  hypocrite* 
or  dreadful  self-deceivers. 

tr>)  -2  Tim.  i.  12.  (fi)  Matt.  x.  37—30.      John,  xxi.  17 

(/;  John,  xiv.  21—24.  John,  xv.  10,  14.  Matt  vii.  21,  22.  Act.-,  ix.  5 

E 


42         THE  CORDIAL  RECEPTION  OF 

be  found  in  him,  constitutes  the  Christian's  first 
care.1  This  world  is  renounced,  and  heaven  is 
followed  after.2  The  solemn  surrender  which, 
under  the  influence  of  divine  grace,  the  Christian 
thus  makes  of  himself  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  deli- 
berate, decided,  and  final.  It  is  an  "everlasting 
covenant,  not  to  be  forgotten."5  Never  to  be 
renounced,  whatever  may  be  suffered  or  be  lost. 
He  yields  himself  to  Christ  with  a  disposition  to 
lose  any  thing,  so  that  he  may  but  win  Christ; 
and  esteems  nothing  too  dear  to  be  forsaken  on 
his  account.  The  disciples  of  this  divine  Saviour, 
are  not  Demas  who  forsook  his  people,  "  having 
loved  this  present  world;"4  nor  Simon  Magus, 
who,  though  he  was  baptized,  had  a  heart  ''not 
right  in  the  sight  of  God;"5  nor  the  many  who 
were  offended  and  forsook  him:6  but  Peter  and 
Paul,  and  hosts,  in  spirit  like  them,  who,  for  his 
sake,  "  loved  not  their  lives  unto  death."7 

4.  The  Lord  Jesus,  that  faithful  and  true  wit- 
ness, describes  those  who  are  thus  brought  to  him 
as  passing  "  from  death  unto  life."3  This  is  the 
most  solemn  and  momentous  transition  imagin- 
able. Could  a  soul  pass  from  hell  to  heaven; 
from  the  guilt,  and  gloom,  and  hatefulness,  and 
torments  of  the  pit  of  despair,  to  the  bright  re- 
gions of  endless  light  and  peace,  and  holiness 
and  love,  it  w7ould  be  a  transition  beyond  ima- 
gination blessed  and  important  It  would  call 
forth  the  eternal  thanksgivings  of  the  happy  crea- 
ture thus  delivered,  and  the  wonder  and  praises 
oi'the  admiring  inhabitants  of  heaven.     But,  little 

(1)  Philip,  iii.  7.  8.  Luke,  xiv.  33.    (2)  2  Cor.  vi.  17,  18.    Col.  iii.  1—3. 

(y)  Jcr.  1.  5,      (4)  2  Tim.  iv.  10.      (5)  Acts.  viii.  21.      (6)  Jolm,  vi'.  66. 

(7)  Rev.  xii.  11.    (8)  John,  v.  21. 


CHRIST  ESSENTIAL  TO  RELIGION.  43 

as  it  is  regarded,  not  much  less  important,  nor 
connected  with  less  important  results,  is  the 
transition  that  takes  place  from  death  unto  life ; 
from  condemnation,  guilt,  and  ruin,  into  pardon, 
holiness,  and  safety,  in  the  case  of  every  forgiven 
penitent.  This  transition  takes  place,  this  way 
of  life  is  entered,  when  the  penitent  cordially 
receives  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  his  Lord  and  his  All, 
for  time  and  eternity.1  Then  and  not  till  then 
does  the  soul  pass  from  death  into  life.  Without 
being  brought  to  this,  the  sinner  may  become 
acquainted,  with  his  guilt;  but  these  convictions 
do  not  render  him  an  heir  of  salvation,  for  he 
may  stifle  them  all,  and  live  the  same.  He  may 
become  sensible  of  his  danger ;  but  this  does  not 
take  him  from  death  into  life,  for  he  may  close 
his  eyes  against  the  danger,  or,  through  love  of 
the  world,  go  with  them  open  to  perdition. 
Thus  many  act  like  the  besotted  man,  who  said, 
that  if  his  soul  and  a  quantity  of  spirits  were 
placed  upon  a  table,  he  would  sell  his  soul  to 
taste  the  intoxicating  liquor.  But  when  the 
sinner,  abhorring  his  guilt  and  feeling  his  danger, 
welcomes  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  then  he  passes 
from  death  to  life.  God  in  the  gospel,  as  it 
were,  says,  "  I  have  found  a  ransom,  and  laid 
help  on  one  that  is  mighty.  I  have  provided  a 
Saviour.  Wilt  thou  have  him  to  save  thee  and 
to  govern  thee  ?  Wilt  thou  take  him  from  thy 
heart  as  thy  salvation  and  thy  Lord  ?"  Do  you 
answer,  "Lord,  I  will.  I  desire  nothing  so  much. 
I  will;  I  do.  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  and  rule  within 
my  breast?"  The  prodigal  was  restored  to  his 
father's    favour,   not    when    meditating  on  his 

(1)  John,  i.  12.  Luke,  xix.  9.  Acts,  xvi.  31.  34. 


44  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIVES  BY  FAITH. 

guilt,  or  thinking  of  returning,  but  when  he 
arose  and  came  to  his  Father.1  Thus  the  soul 
obtains  true  blessings  when  the  penitent  comes 
to  Christ.  Then  it  has  escaped  the  general 
wreck.  The  grace  which  led  it  to  the  Saviour, 
implants  the  seeds  of  all  piety  within  the  breast. 
The  believer  enters  on  anew  way,  and  commences 
the  course  which  terminates  in  heaven.  Have 
you  thus  been  led  to  him  ? 

5.  Various  expressions  are  used  in  the  book  of 
God  to  represent  to  us  the  nature  of  real  piety. 
The  Christian  is  emphatically  represented  as  a 
believer  on  the  Son  of  God,  and  as  such  all 
blessings  are  promised  to  him;  but  his  faith  is 
not  the  cold  assent  of  the  understanding  to  a 
truth  presented  to  its  view ;  it  is  described,  as 
a  believing  "with  the  heart,"2  perceiving  and 
cordially  embracing  the  truth.  The  Christian 
so  believes  as  to  trust,  and  rest  on  Christ,  and  to 
desire  to  be  found  not  having  his  "own  righte- 
ousness" as  the  ground  of  hope,  "but  that  which 
is  by  faith  in  Christ."3  He  so  believes  as  to  love 
and  prize  his  Lord,  whom  he  loves  though  un- 
seen, and  whom  faith  rendersprecious  to  him  :4  the 
Christian's  faith  "works  by  love,"5  purifies  the 
heart,6  and  "overcomes  the  world."7  Under  the 
influence  of  this  heavenly  principle  the  believer 
lives;8  and  acts  and  walks;9  and  seeks  a  home 
above;10  desires  a  bf.tter  country  ;u  esteems  "  the 
reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches,"  than  worldly 
treasures;12  and  erdures  as  seeing  him  who  is 
invisible.15     The  Christian  so  believes  as  to  follow 

(1)  Luke,  xv.  20.  (2)  Rofri.  X.  10    (3)  Phil.  iii.  9.  (4)  1  Peter,  i.  8  ii.  10. 

(5)  Gal.  v.  (3.         (ii)  Acts,  xv.  9.         (7)  I  John,  v.  t».  (8)  Gal.  ii  20. 

(y)  2  Cor.  v.  7.  1 10)  2  Cor.  iv.  18.  (11)  Ileb.  xi.  16,  39. 

(12)  Heb.  m.  26.  (13)  Ileb.  xi  27. 


COMMITS  HIS  SOUL  TO  CHRIST.  45 

the  Lord  whithersoever  he  goeth  ;*  and  so  as  to 
prefer  him  to  father  or  mother,  son  or  daughter, 
or  even  life  itself;2  and  at  heart  he  sacrifices 
all  these  for  him.5 

6.  The  Christian  is  represented  as  committing 
his  soul  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "  I  know 
whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that 
he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed 
unto  him,  against  that  day."4  The  solemn 
committal  of  the  deathless  soul  and  its  immortal 
interests  to  the  Saviour,  is  more  than  knowledge  ; 
more  than  outward  forms  of  piety ;  more  than 
desires  of  its  blessings,  or  convictions  of  its  ne- 
cessity; more  than  correct  morality:  all  these 
go  with  it,  but  it  is  more  than  all.  It  is  the 
solemn  transaction,  in  which  a  helpless  sinner 
entrusts  his  all  to  the  care,  and  unfeignedly  re-, 
signs  himself  to  the  disposal  of  the  almighty 
Saviour.  This  becomes  his  hope,  "  for  me  the 
Saviour  died  ;"  and  the  governing  feeling  of 
his  breast  is,  "  I  am  not  my  own,  but  his  to 
whom  I  have  been  led  to  commit  myself  and  my 
all."  No  one,  while  he  continues  to  live  in  care- 
lessness, is  led  to  this  :  carelessness  is  the  mark 
of  eternal  death.  A  very  different  spirit  ani- 
mates the  Christian  :  "None  but  Christ,  none  but 
Christ/'  was  the  language  of  the  dying  martyr; 
and  "  none  but  Christ,"  is  in  effect  that  of  every 
heir  of  heaven.  "I  count  all  things  but  loss 
that  I  may  win  Christ:"  pleasure,  honour, 
wealth,  friends,  all  are  trifles  compared  with  an 
interest  in  him.  My  desire  is  not  merely  to 
hear  of  his  excellences,  or  think  of  his  love,  or 

(1)  Rev.  xiv.  4.  (2)  Matt.  x.  37,  38.    Luke,  xiv.  26,  27. 

(3)  Luke,  sir,  33.        (4)  2  Tim.  i.  12. 

e3 


46  THE  CHRISTIAN  COMES  TO  CHRIST. 

talk  of  his  glories,  but  to  win  Christ;  to  call  him 
mine,  while  f  am  his." 

7.  The  Christian  is  described  as  one  that 
comes  to  Christ.  He  himself  says,  "Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon 
you,  and  learn  of  me;  for  T  am  meek  and  lowly 
in  heart:  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls." 
"  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  T  am  the  bread  of 
life:  he  that  cometh  to  me,  shall  never  hunger; 
and  he  that  believeth  on  me,  shall  never  thirst." 
"  All  that  the  Father  givelh  me,  shall  come  to 
me;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no- 
wise cast  out."  "  Jesus  cried,  saying,  If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and  di ink."1 

The  promises  in  these  gracious  passages  are 
made  to  him  that  domes  to  the  Saviour;  not  to 
him  that  hears  of  coming,  or  thinks  of  coming, 
or  coldly  desires  salvation,  but  to  him  that 
conies.  Coming  to  Christ,  expresses  the  appli- 
caiion  of  the  soul  to  him  for  the  blessings  that 
it  wants:  and  with  this,  will  always  be  connected 
correspondent  dispositions.  An  afflicted  pauper 
applies  to  a  skilful  and  benevolent  physician  for 
help.  How  does  he  come?  As  diseased  and 
needing  help;  as  sensible  of  disease  and  de- 
siring a  cure;  as  confiding  in  his  benefactor's 
skill  and  care,  and  willing  to  leave  himself  to 
his  disposal.  Thus  the  penitent  comes  to 
Christ  disordered  and  undone;  sensible  of  sin 
and  misery ;  concerned  for  salvation  and  mercy  ; 
trusting  the  Saviour's  power  and  grace ;  and 
willing  to  be  saved  in  the  Saviour's  way.  By 
those  who  come  to  him,  the  Lord  Jesus  is  Wel- 
ti) Matt.  xi.  28,  2y.    John,  vi.  35.  37.    vii.  37. 


CHRIST  REIGNS  IN  HIS  HEART.  47 

corned  as  the  hope  and  trust,  the  life  and  refuge 
of  the  deathless  but  ruined  soul.  O  have  you 
thus  come  to  Christ  ?  Have  you  been  brought  to 
him  ?  What  is  the  ground  of  your  hope  ?  If 
you  think  you  are  in  the  way  to  heaven,  why  do 
yon  indulge  this  expectation?  Perhaps  you  re- 
ply, "  The  Saviour  died  for  sinners."  True;  but 
the  damned  may  say  the  same.  If  you  stop 
there  you  will  soon  be  as  lost  as  they.  Can  you 
say  what  they  never  will,  "  He  died  for  sinners, 
and  I,  as  a  poor,  helpless  sinner,  have  been  led 
to  him  for  pardon  and  salvation.  I  know  in 
whom  T  have  believed  ;  I  have  come  to  him  ; 
his  death  is  my  plea,  his  righteousness  is  my 
trust,  his  grace  is  my  strength.  To  him  my 
soul  is  committed  and  myself  resigned?"  If 
yon  know  nothing  of  this  you  are  still  in  the 
{fall  of  bitterness,  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity. 
The  charge  against  undone  millions  at  last  will 
be,  "Ye  received  me  not:1  Ye  heard  of  me,  ye 
bore  my  name,  ye  listened  to  my  word;  but  ye 
received  me  not."  No  sin  is  so  common,  and 
none  more  ruinous. 

8.  The  Christian  is  described  as  one  who  has 
Christ  in  him.  The  inspired  apostle  repre- 
sented to  some  of  his  Christian  friends,  that 
"Christ  in"  them  "was  the  hope  of  glory."2  He 
said  to  others,  "  Know  ye  not,  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  in  you,  except  ye  be  reprobates."3  Of  himself  he 
said,  "lam  crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless 
I  live,  yet  not  I  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."4 
And  for  others  he  prayed,  "that  Christ 
might  dwell  in  their  hearts  by  faith."3  These  pas- 

(1)  JohD,  i.  11.  v.  4a  (2)  Col.  i.  27.  (3)  2  Cor.  xiii.  5. 

(4)  Gal.  y.  20.  (5)  Eph.  iii.  17. 


48  CHRIST  RULES  THE  CHRISTIAN. 

sages  may  receive  an  affecting"  illustration  from 
the  narratives  which  are  found  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament respecting  unhappy  persons  possessed 
by  evil  spirits.  In  that  case  the  infernal  spirit 
influenced  the  man,  directed  his  conduct  and  his 
words,  and  ruled  him  with  an  absolute  and  fatal 
sway.  When  Christ  is  described  as  in  his  peo- 
ple, it  imports  that  he  has  taken  possession  of 
them;  has  erected,  as  it  were,  his  throne  within 
the  heart;  and  rules  the  conduct  of  the  life,  and 
the  passions  of  the  soul.  If  Christ  is  in  you,  the 
hope  of  glory,  you  must  have  felt  the  changing 
influence  of  his  renewing  spirit.  Were  you 
proud ;  you  now  seek  humility.  Were  you 
passionate;  you  resist  passion  and  follow  after 
meekness.  Were  you  resentful ;  you  have  be- 
come forgiving.  Were  you  covetous;  you  have 
become  liberal.  If  Christ  is  in  you,  he  rules 
within  your  heart.  He  prompts  you  to  maintain 
an  inward  warfare,  and  to  mortify  the  sin  which 
may  easily  beset  you.  He  makes  you  conscien- 
tious in  private  as  well  as  in  public.  His 
pleasure  moves  you  ;  his  approbation  encourages 
you;  his  promises  animate  you;  his  frown 
saddens  you  ;  and  his  laws  bind  you.  He  says, 
"  He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth 
them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me:  and  he  that  loveth 
me  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love 
him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him.  If  a 
man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  words.  He  that 
loveth  me  not,  keepeth  not  my  sayings."1  Christ 
is  not  in  you,  if  his  commands  are  slighted. 
Profession  without  obedience  is  hypocrisy 
You  may  have  the  name  of  Christian,  and  be 

(1)  John,  xiv.  21.  23,  24. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  IS  THE  LORD'S.  49 

unacquainted  with  all  that  has  been  described 
as  distinguishing  the  Christian  ;  but  you  cannot 
have  Christ  in  you,  and  be  a  stranger  to  such  a 
change.  Perhaps  you  object,  "  I  see  some  that 
make  a  flaming  profession  of  religion,  who 
seem  strangers  to  all  this."  Be  it  so.  You  then 
see  hypocrites  or  self-deceivers;  for  God's  de- 
scription of  Christian  piety  will  be  found  true,  if 
all  the  world  were,  deluded. 

9.  Thus  the  Christian  is  one  who  can  say,  "  I 
am  the  Lord's:1  his  by  solemn  surrender;  his 
by  devout  dedication  ;  his  for  time;  and  his  for 
eternity."  Some  have  desires  after  religion;  he 
has  them  too,  but  they  are  much  more  than 
cold  inactive  desires.  Some  form  resolutions; 
he  forms  them  too,  but  in  reliance  on  strength 
superior  to  his  own.  Some  forsake  sins;  he 
forsakes  them  too,  but  stops  not  with  forsaking 
the  transgressor's  ways.  Some  are  religious  by 
fits  and  starts.  Some  are  near  the  kingdom,  but 
never  reach  it ;  they  halt  when  almost  persuaded 
to  be  Christians.  True  piety  leads  its  possessor 
beyond  all  these.  Tt  brings  him  to  the  Saviour's 
feet.  Were  you  ever  brought  there  ?  And  there 
he  can  say,  "  My  heart  is  fixed,  O  God,  my  heart 
is  fixed  ;  my  will  determined  ;  my  choice  made  ; 
my  affections  engaged.  I  see  the  vanity  of  time  ; 
1  feel  the  Saviour's  love,  the  Saviour's  worth. 
My  heart  is  fixed  for  God,  for  the  Saviour,  and 
for  heaven.  Lord,  I  am  thine.  These  hands, 
these  eyes,  these  feet  are  thine.  This  heart  is 
thine,  this  soul  is  committed  to  thy  care.  This 
body  is  not  my  own,  but  bought  with  a  price, 
and  to  be  employed  for  thee." 

(l'i  Isaiah,  xliv.  &. 


50  RELIGION  FURTHER  ILLUSTRATED. 

A  religion  that  leads  to  this  is  much  more  than 
what  satisfies  many.  It  is  more  than  mere  nature 
ever  produced  or  ever  will.  It  has  its  origin 
from  heaven,  and  leads  its  possessor  there.  Is 
yours  such  ?  If  it  be,  to  have  the  heart  thus 
fixed  will  keep  you  steady  in  the  way  to  ever- 
lasting life.  Else  you  will  be  tossed  to  and  fro, 
and  driven  you  know  not  whither.  But  if  you 
are  thus  the  Lord's,  this  grace  will  keep  you  stea- 
dily in  the  ways  of  God,  and  urge  you  onward 
to  heaven.  You  will  be  like  a  sailor  intent  upon 
his  home,  tossed  by  tempests,  and  driven  and 
distressed  by  opposing  winds  and  waves,  who 
still  turns  his  vessel  for  the  port  he  seeks,  and 
never  yields  the  contest  till  he  gains  the  expected 
and  desired  haven. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FURTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  NATURE  OF 
RELIGION. 

1.  Were  a  mathematician  pursuing  some  im- 
portant calculation,  on  the  correctness  of  which 
all  his  future  reputation  and  prosperity  depended, 
with  what  care  would  he  watch  against  the 
smallest  mistake  !  Were  a  merchant  making  a 
calculation,  in  which  by  the  error  of  a  single  fi- 
gure he  might  become  the  loser  of  thousands  of 
pounds,  how  carefully  would  he  prove  all  his 
reckonings,  and  test  the  correctness  of  his  ac- 
counts !  But  in  examining  the  nature  of  religion 
a  far  more  important  inquiry  is  pursued.  If  the 
mathematician  or  the  merchant  err,  some  loss 


TRUE  RELIGION  CONNECTED  WITH  REPENTANCE.    f>\ 

may  be  endured,  but  loss  which  will  soon  appear 
lig-ht  as  vanity  itself.  But  if  delusion  is  suffered 
where  religion  is  concerned,  the  loss  of  the  soul 
will  be  the  dreadful  consequence.  The  subject 
tieing"  of  such  importance,  it  may  be  useful  to 
take  a  view  of  real  piety  in  some  other  lights,  and 
of  the  marks  by  which  it  is  distinguished. 

True  piety  is  connected  with  genuine  repent- 
ance. The  indispensable  necessity  of  repent 
ance  is  most  solemnly  asserted  in  the  divine 
word ;  but  there  is  much  delusion  as  to  its  na- 
ture. True  repentance  is  not  to  be  distinguished 
from  false  so  much  by  the  pungency  of  the  pe- 
nitent's convictions,  as  by  the  change  of  his 
views,  of  his  heart,  and  of  his  life.  Most  persons 
acknowledge  the  necessity  of  repentance,  but 
multitudes  under  that  name  regard  a  mere  delu- 
sion. They  put  the  sorrow  of  the  world  which 
worketh  death,  in  the  place  of  that  godly  sorrow 
whose  author  is  God,  and  whose  end  is  salvation. 
There  are,  however,  many  points  of  contrast 
between  false  and  true  repentance. 

False  repentance  springs  solely  from  the  fear 
of  punishment  and  ruin.  The  sailor  in  a  tem- 
pest, the  profligate  on  a  sick-bed,  cry  out  for 
mercy,  merely  because  they  dread  death  and 
hell  which  seem  at  hand.  In  true  repentance, 
though  the  fear  of  dreaded  evil  may  be  felt,  yet 
connected  with  this  is  a  more  generous  feeling, 
and  sin  is  abhorred.  Job  said,  "I  abhor  myself, 
and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes.3'1 

False  repentance  cloaks  and  lessens  sin.  Its 
|vil  is  not  felt,  nor  its  guilt  acknowledged.  The 
sinner  looks  for  every  extenuating  circumstance, 

(1)  Job,  xlii.  a 


62  DISTINCTIONS  BETWEEN  TRDB 

to  hide  the  deformity. of  his  own  transgressions 
In  true  repentance  the  evil  of  sin  is  felt.  k< 
aggravations  are  acknowledged  by  the  soul,  thar 
neither  pleads,  nor  wishes  to  plead  any  extenu- 
ation. The  penitent  feels  he  has  none  to  offer 
and  the  confessions  of  the  psalmist  are  the  Ian- 
guage  of  his  heart:  "  Have  mercy  upon  me,  -O 
God,  according  to  thy  loving-kindness  :  accord, 
ing  unto  the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies  blor 
out  my  transgressions.  Wash  me  throughly 
from  mine  iniquity,  and  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 
For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions :  and  my 
sin  is  ever  before  me.  Against  thee,  thee  only, 
have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight : 
that  thou  mightest  be  justified  when  thou  speak - 
est,  and  be  clear  when  thou  judgest.  Behold,  I 
was  shapen  in  iniquity;  and  in  sin  did  my  mo- 
ther conceive  me."1 

He  that  is  deluded  with  false  repentance, 
hopes  and  pleads  for  mercy  on  account  of  good 
that  he  has  done.  It  is  true,  he  acknowledges,  he 
has  done  wrong,  but  then  he  has  often  done 
right;  he  has  sinned,  but  then  he  has  often  done 
good.  The  true  penitent  owns  himself  quite 
vile,  and  casts  himself  solely  on  the  mercy  and 
grace  of  a  forgiving  God.  Thus  David  did  when 
his  prayer  was,  "Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God  ;" 
and  when  in  all  his  penitential  confession,  not 
one  plea  was  urged  from  any  service  he  had  ever 
done,  nor  one  allusion  made  to  any  thing  that  as 
a  servant  of  God  he  had  ever  been.  Thus  the 
publican  acted  when  smiting  on  his  breast,  with 
downcast  eye*,  he  exclaimed,  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner!"     And  the  prodigal  displayed 

(1)  Psalms,  li.  1-&. 


AND  COUNTERFEIT  REPENTANCE.  63 

this  spirit  when  he  said,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  thy  son."1 

In  false  repentance  the  sinner,  with  all  his 
professions  of  sorrow,  still  thinks,  on  the  whole, 
well  of  himself.  He  sees  no  great  deep  of  ini- 
quity within  his  own  heart;  nor  does  he  feel 
that  his  character  as  a  sinner,  is  in  the  view  of 
God  altogether  hateful  and  debased.  True  re- 
pentance leads  the  penitent  to  abhor  himself; 
and  the  more  he  feels  of  its  influence,  the  lower 
he  sinks  in  self-abhorrence  and  humiliation. 
God  thus  describes  repentance :  "  Then  shall  ye 
remember  your  own  evil  ways,  and  your  doings 
that  were  not  good,  and  shall  loathe  yourselves 
in  your  own  sight  for  your  iniquities  and  for  your 
abominations."2 

In  false  repentance,  the  sinner  regards  solely 
the  injury  sin  has  done  himself,  and  the  danger 
to  which  it  has  exposed  him.  In  true  repent- 
ance the  penitent  looks  at  the  ingratitude  and 
vileness  of  sin  in  reference  to  a  good  and  gra- 
cious God  and  Saviour ;  and  mourns  that  infinite 
excellence  should  have  met  with  such  base  treat- 
ment from  him,  and  infinite  goodness  with  so 
vile  and  ungrateful  a  return.  It  is  related  of 
Colonel  Gardiner,  that  after  his  wonderful  con- 
version, though  he  assuredly  believed  for  a 
length  of  time  that  he  should  soon  be  in  hell, 
yet  that  what  he  suffered  of  his  inward  distress, 
was  not  so  much  from  the  fear  of  hell,  "  as  from 
a  sense  of  that  horrible  ingratitude  he  had  shown 
to  the  God  of  his  life,"  and  to  the  blessed  Re- 
deemer.    There  is  much  variety  in  the  feelings 

(l)  Lukp,  xv.  21.  (2)  Ezekiel,  xxxvi.  31. 

F 


54  THE  PENITENT  ARE 

of  different  individuals  even  on  religious  sub. 
jects,  but  this  sorrow  in  a  way  more  or  less  deep 
is  experienced  by  every  real  penitent. 

In  false  repentance,  when  danger  is  over  the 
sorrow  is  forgotten.  Thus  the  mariner  profes- 
sing penitence  in  a  storm,  rushes  on  in  the  career 
of  iniquity  when  the  tempest  has  ceased  its  rage. 
And  the  sick-bed  penitent,  in  almost  all  cases, 
returns  to  carelessness  and  sin,  so  soon  as  return- 
ing health  removes  death  and  hell  from  his  af- 
frighted view.  Sin,  then,  instead  of  being  forsak- 
en and  abhorred,  is  loved  and  followed.  It 
maintains  its  sway  over  the  soul,  and  in  the  mi- 
serable man's  esteem  is  as  sweet  as  ever.  When 
true  repentance  is  felt  sin  is  hated,  and  even 
when  pardoned  is  hated  more  than  ever.  The 
penitent  forsakes  its  ways ;  resolves  and  prays 
against  its  snares;  loathes  the  sin  that  may  ea- 
sily beset  him;  and  could  he  sin  without  pu- 
nishment, still  for  its  vileness  and  baseness,  he 
would  flee  from  sin,  and  hate  it  with  utter  hatred. 

False  repentance  is  such  as  a  devil  might  feel ; 
and  as  many  dying  in  impenitence  indulge  when 
they  can  sin  on  earth  no  longer;  while  many 
of  the  feelings  connected  with  true  repentance, 
are  such  as  a  saint  in  heaven  might  indulge. 

2.  The  humble  and  contrite  that  have  fled 
to  the  Saviour,  as  the  penitent's  refuge,  are  de- 
scribed in  the  scriptures,  as  greatly  blessed.  It 
is  not  merely  asserted  that  they  shall  be  blessed, 
but  such  dispositions  of  soul  are  represented  as 
proving  them  already  blessed.  "Thus  saith  the 
high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity,  whose 
name  is  Holy:  I  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy 
place,  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite  and  hum- 


TRULY  BLESSED.  55 

ble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and 
to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  The  heaven  is  my  throne,  and 
the  earth  is  my  footstool.  To  this  man  will  I 
look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  and  of  a  contrite 
spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word."1  The  Lord 
Jesus  says,  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit ;  for 
theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Blessed  are 
they  that  mourn ;  for  they  shall  be  comforted. 
Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness;  for  they  shall  be  filled."2 

The  true  penitent  welcomes  gospel  mercy, 
listens  to  the  Saviour's  invitation,  "  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden/'5  arid 
is  made  a  partaker  of  forgiveness.  The  penitent 
publican  went  down  to  his  house  justified  ;4  the 
penitent  prodigal  received  his  father's  pardon, 
and  was  restored  to  his  father's  family  ;5  the 
penitent  female,  who  dropped  her  tears  on  the 
Saviour's  feet,  and  wiped  them  with  her  hair, 
heard  the  cheering  declaration,  "Thy  sins  are 
forgiven  thee ;  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee  :  go  in 
peace."6 

3.  But  what  are  the  evidences  of  enjoying  for. 
giving  grace  ?  On  this  there  is  much  delusion. 
Some  fancy,  if  the  feelings  are  fired,  if  the  pas- 
sions are  roused,  and  if  sorrow  gives  place  to  joy, 
though  they  know  not  why,  that  this  is  a  proof 
of  forgiveness.  All  this  is  deception.  Satan 
sometimes  appears  fts  an  angel  of  light,7  and 
may  kindle  an  unhallowed  joy  in  an  unchanged 
heart. 

(1)  Is.  lvii.  15.  Is.  lxvi.  1,  2.       (2-)  Matt.  v.  3,  4.  6.       (3)  Matt.  xi.  27. 

(4)  Luke,  xviii.  14.  (5}  Luke.  xv.  22.  (6)  Luke,  vii.  48.  50. 

(7)  2  Cor.  xi.  14. 


56  EVIDENCES  OF  ENJOYING  PARDON. 

No  one  thing,  but  several  united,  may  be  re- 
presented as  constituting  satisfactory  evidence  of 
an  interest  in  pardoning  mercy. 

Peace  of  mind  has  been  regarded  as  an  evi- 
dence of  forgiveness.  But  this  is  not  decisive  ; 
for  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite  may  inspire  a  false 
peace.  Nor  is  the  absence  of  peace  an  evidence 
that  forgiveness  is  not  enjoyed  ;  for  the  sorrow- 
ing, doubting  Christian,  may  write  bitter  tilings 
unreasonably  against  himself.1  But  peace  of 
mind,  springing  from  trust  in  the  Saviour's 
atonement,  from  faith  in  his  blood,  and  connect- 
ed with  the  experience  of  the  sanctifying  and 
constraining  power  of  his  love,  may  be  consider- 
ed a  sure  evidence  that  the  soul  has  regarded  the 
gospel  call 

With  this  invariably  is  connected,  subjection 
to  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  forgiven  penitent  is  a 
member  of  a  new  kingdom,  over  which  the  Sa- 
viour rules. 

New  principles  and  dispositions,  hopes  and 
fears,  joys  and  sorrows,  also  mark  the  pardoned 
soul.  The  forgiven  penitent  is  partaker  of  a  new 
nature;  is  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  in 
whom  old  things  pass  away,  and  all  things  be- 
come new.*  The  Lord  Jesus  never  forgives  a 
soul,  and  leaves  it  one  of  Satan's  slaves.  Every 
pardoned  penitent  has  a  new  disposition,  that 
tolerates  no  sin  ;  that  allows  not  subjection  to  the 
world  ;  and  that  pants  antf  universal  holiness. 
Blessed  and  happy  are  they  who  experience  this  .' 
The  load  is  taken  away,  that  else  would  have 
ruined  them  eternally.  Who  shall  condemn 
them?     God  justifies  them      Who  shall   injure 

(lU'salma,  xlij.  Ixxvii      Isaiah,  xi.2"?.  (2)  2  Cor  v.  IT. 


TRUE  RELIGION  DISTINGUISHED  FROM  FORMAL.  57 

them  ?  God  protects  them.  Who  shall  impo- 
verish them  ?  God  enriches  them.  Who  can 
harm  them  in  life  or  death,  time  or  eternity? 
AW  things  are  theirs,  and  they  are  Christ's.  Are 
you  one  of  this  happy  family  ? 

4.  The  Christian  may  be  further  viewed  as 
the  possessor  of  true  grace,  in  distinction  from 
those,  who  have  but  the  form  of  godliness.  But 
wide  is  the  difference  between  the  religion  of 
these  different  characters.  The  religion  of  one  is 
formal;  it  consists  chiefly  in  knowledge,  and 
outward  forms:  that  of  the  other  is  heartfelt; 
the  Christian  does  not  despise  the  forms  of  piety, 
but  its  chief  seat  is  in  his  soul.  The  religion  of 
the  formalist  is  partial I;  he  regards  some  duties 
and  slights  others  ;  shuns  some  sins,  and  indul- 
ges in  others.  The  religion  of  the  Christian  is 
entire:  it  embraces  the  love  and  pursuit  of  uni- 
versal holiness,  and  the  renunciation  and  abhor- 
rence of  all  sin.  The  religion  of  the  formalist 
speedily  reaches  its  maturity  :  the  same  forms 
to-day  as  yesterday,  and  to-morrow  as  to-day, 
satisfy  him.  The  religion  of  the  Christian,  like 
a  brightening  light,  shines  more  and  more  unto 
the  perfect  day.  His  concern  is,  to  "  grow  in 
grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;"1  to  forget  the  things  behind,  and  reach 
unto  those  before.2  The  formalist  is  soon  satis- 
fied. He  wants  no  high  attainments  in  divine 
things.  The  Christian  never  is  so  satisfied  as  to 
say,  "  I  have  grace  enough."  He  almost  thinks 
nothing  gained,  while  any  thing  remains  ungain- 
ed.  The  formalist  desires  only  religion  enough 
to  reach  heaven  ;  and  a  delusive  hope  quickly 

(1)  U  Peter,  iii.  18.  (2)  Phil.  iii.  17. 

P3 


Ob  THE  CHRISTIAN  DISTINGUISHED 

satisfies  him.  The  Christian  can  at  times  almost 
lose  the  thought  of  the  good  he  expects,  in  his 
desire  for  entire  transformation  to  the  Redeemer's 
likeness.  "  Wash  me,  Lord,  and  not  my  feet  only, 
hut  also  my  hands  and  my  head.  Not  partially 
but  entirely.  My  desires;  my  affections;  my 
tempers  and  conduct;  make  all  like  thine  own. 
Wash  me  from  love  of  the  world ;  from  pride, 
and  selfishness,  and  every  evil  passion.  Change 
me,  and  change  me  not  in  some  things  only,  but 
in  all.  Teach  me  all  I  should  learn,  and  make 
me  all  I  should  be." 

5.  The  true  Christian  is  distinguished  by  love 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  early  disciples 
are  described  as  those  who  loved  him  though 
unseen.1  Blessings  are  pronounced  on  all  that 
love  him  ;  ¥  Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  :"2  and  an  aw- 
ful curse  on  all  who  love  him  not,  whatever  in 
other  respects  may  be  their  character,  their 
knowledge,  their  conduct,  or  their  profession ; 
u  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let 
him  be  Anathema  Maranatha."5  The  apostle, 
describing  his  own  views  and  feelings,  repre- 
sented, at  the  same  time,  those  of  every  child  of 
God:  "Yea,  doubtless,  I  count  all  things  but 
loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord  ;  that  I  may  win  Christ  and  be 
found  in  him."*  Be  the  Christian  a  Briton  or  a 
Hindoo,  the  effect  of  the  gospel  upon  his  heart, 
as  to  the  adorable  Saviour,  is  the  same.  "I  love 
him,"  said  Krishna  in  his  last  illness,  "but  not 
as  he  loves  me."  The  careless  and  presumptuous 
will  speak  of  love  to  Christ,  while  their  whole 

(1)  1  Peter,  i.  7.     (-2)  Epli.  vi.  21.     (3)  1  Cor  xvi.  22.    (4)  Phil.  iii.  8. 


nY  LOVE  TO  CHRIST.  59 

life  is  neglect  of  him,  or  rebellion  against  him. 
The  love  of  the  Christian  to  his  Lord  is  heartfelt. 
He  sees  his  Redeemer's  worth:  "Lord,  in  po- 
verty thou  art  my  wealth  ;  in  disgrace,  my  ho- 
nour; in  sorrow,  my  joy;  in  weakness,  my 
strength  ;  in  death,  my  life."  The  Christian's 
love  to  the  Saviour,  is  connected  with  a  sense  Gf 
his  suitableness  to  the  wants  of  the  soul :  "  I  was 
lost,  he  redeemed  me  ;  I  am  guilty,  he  saves  me  ; 
I  am  blind,  he  teaches  me;  I  am  poor,  he  en- 
riches me;  I  am  to  die,  he  must  support  me. 
He  is  every  thing  to  me ;  and  none  can  supply 
his  place."  The  Christian's  love  to  his  Lord  is 
active  and  influential.  It  does  not  evaporate 
with  glowing  words,  nor  spend  itself  in  warm 
professions.  It  is  manifested  in  desires  for  more 
love.  Never  did  a  pardoned  penitent  love  Christ 
without  desiring  to  love  him  better.  It  is  evi  • 
denced  in  desire  to  do  his  will,  and  to  promote 
his  glory.  The  Christian's  love  to  the  Saviour  is 
supreme.  The  Lord  requires  this :  "  He  that 
loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  wor- 
thy of  me;  and  he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter 
more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me  ;  and  he  that 
taketh  not  his  cross,  and  followeth  after  me,  is  not 
worthy  of  me."1  "  If  any  man  come  to  me,  and 
hate  not  his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and 
children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his 
own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."2  None 
can  suppose  the  Saviour  means,  we  should  hate 
those  he  commands  us  to  love;  but  that  they 
should  have  the  second  place  in  the  affeciionsof 
the  soul,  while  the  first  is  given  to  himself.  He 
is  to  be  loved  more  and  with  higher  estimation 

(1)  Matt.  X.  27.  3$.  (2)  LuVe,  xiv.  2.1 


60  EVIDENCES  OF  LOVE  TO  CHRIST. 

than  they;  and  to  be  pleased  in  preference  to 
them.  The  Christian  must  be  ready,  if  required, 
to  forsake  them  sooner  than  renounce  his  Lord ; 
and  to  sacrifice  all  things  rather  than  forsake  his 
Redeemer.  Thus  his  love  to  Christ  must  be  su- 
preme. Am  I  so  circumstanced,  that  I  must 
deny  myself,  or  violate  his  laws  ;  I  must  offend 
friends,  or  offend  my  Lord  ;  I  must  sacrifice  their 
favour  and  love,  or  forsake  his  service  ?  In  such 
a  case  the  Christian  will  not  hesitate  what  part 
to  act.  In  such  a  case  how  would  you  act  ?  What 
is  the  tenor  of  your  life  ?  the  settled  bent  and 
purpose  of  your  soul  ?  Some  have  warm  pas- 
sions in  God's  house,  and  lead  careless  lives  in 
their  own.  How  do  you  live  ?  Do  you  love 
your  Lord  ?  and  evidence  that  love  by  loving  his 
house  ?  by  loving  his  sabbaths  ?  by  loving  his 
people  ?  by  loving  his  ordinances  ?  by  loving 
his  precepts  ?  by  loving  all  he  loves,  and  hating 
all  he  hates  ?  Is  it  with  yon,  life's  chief  concern 
to  live  to  him  ?  and  to  reach  his  kingdom,  where 
you  shall  live  with  him  ?  Whatever  engages  you 
besides,  is  this  your  first  concern?  that  which 
takes  the  place  of  all  others?  which  is  regarded 
above  all  besides  ?  and  to  which  the  thoughts 
and  cares  return,  whatever  else  may  occupy  them 
through  a  large  portion  of  your  waking  hours? 
An  affectionate  child,  at  the  call  of  Providence, 
leaves  his  parents,  and  goes  to  a  distant  land ; 
yet  he  remembers  his  home.  He  keeps  in  view 
the  time  for  returning  to  it.  He  discharges  the 
duties  of  the  new  scene,  in  which,  for  a  while, 
he  is  placed.  These  occupy  much  of  his  time, 
and  engage  many  of  his  thoughts,  yet  his  fond- 
est thoughts  turn  to  home.     There  his  heart  is 


THE  CHRISTIAN  A  NEW  CREATURE.  61 

most  set.  That  is  never  long  out  of  mind  ;  and 
at  the  appointed  period,  with  gladness,  he  returns 
to  the  place,  where  his  thoughts  have  daily  been. 
Do  you  feel  a  love  to  the  adorable  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ,  whose  effects  are  of  this  description? 

6.  The  Christian  is  represented  as  a  new  crea- 
ture. In  conversion,  in  making  any  one  really 
a  Christian,  not  only  is  there  some  outward 
change  in  the  character  and  conduct;  but  there 
is  an  inward  change,  which  is  as  really  the  pro- 
duct of  divine  power,  as  is  life  itself,  and  of 
which  none  but  God  can  be  the  author.  The 
necessity  of  such  a  change  is  solemnly  assert ed  : 
Jesus  said,  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except 
a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee; 
except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh;  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
spirit.  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye 
must  be  born  again."1  Every  real  Christian  is 
represented  as  a  partaker  of  this  new  nature: 
"As  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he 
power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them 
that  believe  on  his  name:  which  were  bom,  not 
o\'  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the 
will  of  man,  but  of  God.  Jf  any  man  be  in 
r'  hrist,  lie  is  a  new  creature  :  old  things  are  passed 
awa  y  ;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new."2  The 
Messed  God  s-iicl .  "  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give 
N.Mi,  and  a  new  spirit  will  T  put  within  you  :  and 
i  will  takeaway  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh, 
and  [    will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh.      And  I 

;I)  JoIid,  iii.  3.  5.  6.  7.  (2)  John,  i.  12.    2  Cor.  ▼.  17. 


62  REGENERATION 

will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to 
walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my 
judgments,  and  do  them."1  This  new  heart  and 
new  birth  probably  consists  chiefly  in  giving-  to 
the  soul  a  new  disposition,  which  becomes  the 
seed  of  universal  holiness  in  heart  and  life. 
This  change  is  compared  to  that  which  is  con- 
fessedly mysterious  ;  but  though  mysterious  it 
is  not  less  real.  Natural  life,  in  its  origin  and 
continuance,  is  as  mysterious  as  the  nature  of 
the  life  of  grace  in  the  renewed  soul.  Each 
becomes  visible  from  its  effects.  We  know  man 
lives,  not  by  seeing  life  infused,  or  by  compre- 
hending the  nature  of  life,  but  by  seeing  its 
effects.  He  breathes;  he  speaks;  he  sees;  he 
moves ;  he  acts.  These  effects  declare  him  to 
be  a  living  man,  not  a  lifeless  corpse.  Thus  is 
spiritual  life  evidenced.  Its  effects  are,  sense  and 
feeling.  The  heart  of  stone,  which  could  not 
feel,  is  changed  for  a  heart  that  can,  that  does. 
Pride  and  carelessness  give  place  to  humility  and 
contrition.  Sin  is  deplored  and  forsaken.  The 
possession  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  marks  the  rege- 
nerate. He  was  humble,  man  is  proud  ;  but 
the  renewed  man  becomes  humble.  He  was 
meek,  man  is  violent  and  passionate ;  but 
renewed  man  learns  of  him  who  was  meek  and 
gentle.  He  was  forgiving,  man  is  resentful ;  but 
renewed  man  becomes  forgiving.  He  was  be- 
nevolent, man  is  selfish ;  but  renewed  man 
learns  of  Jesus,  to  care  for  others'  welfare  as  well 
as  his  own.  He  loved  his  Father  God.  man  is 
alienated  from  him  ;  but  renewed  man  loves  his 
God,  and  seeks  his  glory.     He  was  heaven iy- 

(1)  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27. 


FURTHER  ILLUSTRATED.  63 

minded,  man  is  earthly  and  sensual ;  but  renewed 
man  sets  his  affections  on  things  above.  He 
was  holy,  man  is  altogether  sinful ;  but  renewed 
man  follows  after  holiness.  Thus  the  Christian 
is  a  new  creature  ;  new  in  principles,  feelings, 
dispositions,  conduct,  pursuits,  hopes,  fears, 
joys,  sorrows,  prospects,  and  connexions.  The 
change  experienced,  whether  wrought  more  gra- 
dually, or  more  suddenly,  is  a  divine  and  entire 
change,  that  renders  him,  who  experiences  it,  as 
to  his  character  and  state,  in  the  sight  of  God,  a 
new  man.  The  dark  mind  is  enlightened  ;  the 
insensible  heart  is  softened  ;  the  affections  are 
turned  into  a  new  channel,  and,  as  to  the  highest 
objects  of  their  regard,  fix  on  new  objects.  The 
life  that  was  careless  or  wicked,  is  altered  to  a 
life  of  piety.  And  the  man  is  said  to  be  "  created 
in  Christ  Jesus,  unto  good  works."1  The  opera- 
tions of  divine  grace,  in  producing  this  change 
may  be  very  various,  but  its  termination  is  the 
same.  Some,  in  the  midst  of  a  career  of  iniquity, 
may  be  awakened  by  the  terrors  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  the  light  of  divine  truth,  revealing  to  them 
their  guilt  and  misery,  may  break  in  upon  their 
souls,  almost  as  suddenly,  as  if  the  sun  were  to 
:ise  in  an  instant  at  midnight,  and  change  dark- 
ness into  day.  In  the  case  of  many  others,  the 
light  may  open  gradually  upon  their  souls,  like 
the  usual  dawnings  of  the  day  ;  first  one  gentle 
beam,  and  then  another,  and  another,  and  another. 
A  little  more  light,  and  a  little  more,  till,  though 
they  know  not  how,  the  darkness  is  gone,  and 
the  light  shines  on  them  in  the  blaze  of  day.  In 
such  cases,  it  may  be  impossible  to  distinguish 

(1)  Eph.  ii.  10. 


6*4  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE 

between  what  may  be  termed  the  last  efforts  of 
mere  nature,  and  the  first  operations  of  the 
Eternal  Spirit;  but  it  is  enough  to  know  that  the 
heart  is  renewed,  that  effects  which  mere  nature 
never  produced,  are  experienced  ;  and  truths, 
which  it  never  taught  the  mind  to  comprehend, 
are  known.  A  traveller  commencing  u  journey 
by  the  light  of  the  moon,  before  the  faintest 
gleam  of  the  dawn  appears,  and  pursuing  his 
journey,  at  length  finds,  light  increasing  round 
him.  It  brightens  more  and  more.  The  creation 
assumesa  new  aspect ;  and  he  findstheglimmmng 
of  moonlight  changed  for  the  effulgence  of  the 
newly-risen  sun.  But  request  him  to  distinguish 
the  last  beam  of  the  light  of  the  setting  moon, 
from  the  first  of  the  rising  sun,  and  were  life 
depending  on  the  answer,  life  must  be  lost, 
sooner  than  he  could  give  a  correct  reply.  Yet 
though  he  could  not  tell  which  was  the  first 
gleam  of  opening  day,  he  can  tell  that  the  day 
shines  all  around  him ;  and  it  matters  little  to 
him  while  enjoying  the  daylight,  that  he  is  unable 
to  declare  which  was  its  first  faint  ray.  As  little 
does  it  matter  to  the  Christian,  to  distinguish  the 
first  movings  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  from  the  last 
of  his  own,  if  he  now  walks  in  the  light,  as 
Christ  was  in  the  light. 

7.  The  representations  of  the  Christian  as  a  new- 
man,  a  new  creature,  are  strikingly  emphatic  and 
descriptive.  Look  at  a  profligate,  he  drinks  in 
iniquity  like  water.  He  is  lewd,  drunken  ;  per, 
haps  a  scorner,  a  swearer,  a  sabbath-breaker. 
He  treats  with  contempt  all  that  is  good,  is  prayer- 
less,  careless  and  insensible,  neglects  the  bible 
and  the   house   of   prayer,   rushes    forward    to 


EXPRESSION,  A  NEW  CREATURE.  65 

eternal  perdition.  Look  o.t  the  sama  man  if  re- 
newed in  the  spirit  of  his  mind.  He  shuns  the 
paths  of  vice,  he  is  chaste,  sober,  temperate,  he 
reveres  the  divine  name,  keeps  holy  the  sabbaths 
of  the  Lord,  prizes  the  bible,  loves  prayer  and 
the  worship  of  God,  hates  all  that  once  he  loved, 
unci  loves  most  what  once  he  hated  most,  and 
acts,  and  lives,  and  prays  as  one  whose  chief 
object  is  to  secure  eternal  life.  Is  he  not  a  new 
man?  a  new  creature?  Had  divine  power  de- 
stroyed his  whole  frame,  and  produced  another 
mau  in  his  place,  would  he  have  been  a  more 
different  man?  or  more  completely  a  new  man, 
in  all  that  will  long  distinguish  man? 

Look  at  another.  He  is  not  profligate,  but 
sober,  steady,  moral,  yet  a  stranger  to  piety. 
He  utters  stated  prayers,  but  they  are  only  formal. 
God  has  not  his  heart;  his  own  interests,  honour, 
gain,  or  pleasure,  lie  much  nearer  to  his  heart, 
than  the  glory  or  honour  of  his  Creator.  He 
acknowledges  Christ  as  a  Saviour;  but  the 
Saviour's  love  impresses  not  his  soul,  and  win? 
not  his  affections.  He  reads  the  bible  as  a  kind 
of  task,  as  a  school  boy  reads  his  lesson  ;  and 
perhaps,  with  all  this,  thinks  himself  very  good 
and  very  safe.  Look  at  the  same  man,  if  re- 
newed. As  he  was  never  immoral,  there  is  not 
so  striking  a  change  in  his  outward  conduct  aa 
in  the  former  instance ;  perhaps  little  visible 
there;  but  there  is  as  real  a  change  in  his  heart. 
His  prayers  are  no  longer  formal,  but  express 
the  feelings  of  a  soul  that  knows  its  wants  and 
its  guilt.  His  heart  is  yielded  to  God,  and  he  re- 
gards his  Father's  honour  and  glory,  above  any 
trifling  interests  of  his  own.     The  Saviour's  love 


66  SCRIPTURAL  EVIDENCES 

impresses  now  his  heart;  and  draws  out  the 
best  affections  of  his  soul  to  his  Lord,  in  grati- 
tude and  love.  The  bible  is  no  longer  a  task,  but 
is  read  as  with  new  eyes,  and  with  an  enlightened 
mind.  All  his  former  conceit  of  his  own  good- 
ness and  safety  has  vanished.  He  sinks  in 
humiliation  before  his  God;  feels  he  was  as  really 
a  lost  creature,  as  the  more  profligate  sinners 
around;  with  a  heart  as  estranged  from  God, 
and  as  corrupt  as  theirs.  Is  he  not  a  new 
man,  in  all  that  constitutes  the  moral  character 
of  an  intelligent  and  immortal  being  ?  as  com- 
pletely new,  as  if  God  had  sunk  his  whole  frame 
into  nothing,  and  formed  a  new  man  to  occupy 
his  place  ?  O  remember  that  all  outward  forms 
without  an  inward  renewing  change,  are,  so  far 
as  eternity  is  concerned,  vanity  of  vanities. 
Eternal  truth  has  declared,  "Ye  must  be  born 
again." 

No  alternative  remains  for  any  child  of  man 
but  this — he  must  be  converted  or  condemned. 

8.  After  thus  noticing  some  of  those  represen- 
tations which  are  given  of  the  real  Christian,  it 
may  not  be  useless  to  point  to  a  few  marks  of 
possessing  the  spirit  of  Christ,  which  form  im- 
portant tests,  by  which  to  try  our  state. 

A  holy  jealousy  of  ourselves,  and  such  fear  of 
deception,  as  produces  solemn  caution  and  care, 
to  guard  against  delusion — "  Search  me,  O  God, 
and  know  my  heart :  try  me,  and  know  my 
thoughts :  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way 
in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting."1 

Prizing  the  favour  of  God  above  all  earthly 
good,  and  desiring  more  earnestly  to  love  him 

(1)  Psalm,  csxxix.  Ti,  24. 


OF  POSSESSING  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRIST.  67 

more ;  to  serve  him  better,  and  to  feel  more  of 
his  love,  than  to  obtain  worldly  wealth  or  any 
earthly  acquisition  —  "None  of  these  things 
move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  my- 
self, so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy. 
Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel,  and  after- 
ward receive  me  to  glory.  Whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  thee?  and  there  is  none  upon\arth 
that  I  desire  beside  thee.  My  flesh  and  my 
heart  faileth  :  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my 
heart,  and  my  portion  for  ever.  There  be  many 
that  say,  who  will  show  us  any  good  ?  Lord,  lift 
thou  up  the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  us. 
Thou  hast  put  gladness  in  my  heart,  more  than 
in  the  time  that  their  corn  and  their  wine  in- 
creased. One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord, 
that  will  I  seek  after;  that  I  may  dwell  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to  be- 
hold the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  inquire  in 
his  temple."1 

Seriously  and  solemnly  taking  the  life  to  come, 
as  the  portion  of  the  soul ;  regarding  this  as  its 
highest  interest,  having  reference  to  this  in  all 
our  pursuits,  and  habitually  preferring  the  things 
unseen,  before  the  visible  objects  of  this  transi- 
tory world  —  "We  look  not  at  the  things  which 
are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen  : 
for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  but 
the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal.  We 
walk  by  faith  not  by  sight.  We  are  confident, 
I  say,  and  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the 
body,  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord."2 

Maintaining  habitual  attention  to  the  state  of 

(1)  Acts,  xx.  24.  Psalm,  lxxiii.  24—26.  Psalm,  iv.  fi,  7.  Psalm,  xxvii.4. 
(•2)  2  Cor.  iv.  18.    2  Cor.  v.  7,  8. 


68  SCRIPTURAL  EVIDENCES 

the  heart  and  care  about  it;  so  that  the  sins  of 
the  heart  are  observed  and  lamented,  and  grace 
is  sought  to  subdue  whatever  is  wrong  within  the 
breast,  as  well  as  what  may  be  openly  amiss  in 
the  conduct — "Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence; 
for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.  Create  in  me 
a  clean  heart,  O  God ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me.  Let  us,  therefore,  fear,  lest  a  pro- 
mise being  left  us  of  entering  into  his  rest,  any 
of  you  should  seem  to  come  short  of  it.  Look  to 
yourselves,  that  we  lose  not  those  things  which  we 
have  wrought,  but  that  we  receive  a  full  reward."1 

Living  not  allowedly  in  any  known  sin ;  and 
having  no  sinful  infirmity,  which  is  not,  when 
known,  lamented,  and  a  concern  maintained  that 
it  may  be  corrected  and  subdued  —  "In  that 
he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once :  but  in  that  he 
liveth,  he  liveth  unto  God.  Reckon  ye  also 
yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive 
unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Now  being  made  free  from  sin,  and  become 
servants  to  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  holi- 
ness, and  the  end  everlasting  life.  Having, 
therefore,  these  promises,  dearly  beloved,  let  us 
cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh 
and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God. 
Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life"2 

Desiring  the  highest  degree  of  holiness  ;  loving 
holiness  and  longing  for  more  of  its  power,  and 
wishing  rather  to  be  more  holy  than  more  pros- 
perous or  more  rich  —  "Follow  holiness,  without 
which    no   man   shall  see  the    Lord.     As    he 

(i)  Prov.  iv.  23.    Psalm,  li.  10.    Heb.  iv.  1.    2  John,  8. 
(2)  Rom.  vi.  10, 11.  22.    2  Cor.  vii.  I.    1  Tim.  vi.  12. 


OF  POSSESSING  THE  SPIRIT  OF  CHRIST.         69 

which  hath  called  you  is  holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in 
all  manner  of  conversation  ;  because  it  is  written, 
Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy.  He  that  saith,  I  know 
him,  and  keepeth  not  his  commandments,  is  a 
liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him.  But  whoso 
keepeth  bis  word,  in  him  verily  is  the  love  of 
God  perfected  :  hereby  know  we  that  we  are  in 
him.  He  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him,  ought 
himself  also  so  to  walk,  even  as  he  walked."1 

Cherishing  love  to  the  cause  and  the  people 
of  God  —  "  For  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that 
ye  should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you.  We  know 
that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  because 
we  love  the  brethren.  He  that  loveth  not  his 
brother  abideth  in  death."2 

The  possession  of  a  prayerful  and  devotional 
spirit,  that  makes  private  devotion  precious,  and 
produces  love  to  the  worship  and  ordinances  of 
God's  house  —  "As  the  hart  panteth  after  the 
water-brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after  thee,  O 
God.  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  living 
God:  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before 
God  ?  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles,  0  Lord 
of  hosts  !  My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for 
the  courts  of  the  Lord  :  my  heart  and  my  flesh 
crieth  out  for  the  living  God.  For  a  day  in  thy 
courts  is  better  than  a  thousand.  I  had  rather 
be  a  door-keeper  in  the  house  of  my  God,  than 
to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness.  Men 
ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint.  Shall 
not  God  avenge  his  own  elect,  which  cry  day  and 
night  unto  him."3 


(I)  Heb.  xii.  14.  1  Peter,  i.  15, 16.  1  John,  ii.  4—6.    (2)  John,  xiii.  15 

i  John,  iii.  14.  (3)  Psalm,  xlii.  1,  2.    Psalm,  lxxxiv.  1,  2.  10 

Luke,  xviii.  1.  7. 

o3 


70       PERSEVERANCE  ESSENTIAL  TO  RELIGION. 

Daily  regard  to  the  Saviour  as  the  author  of 
salvation,  and  the  daily  application  of  the  soul 
to  him  as  its  life,  its  righteousness,  its  redemp- 
tion, its  wisdom,  and  its  all — ''I  live,  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me.  Let  us  run  with 
patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking 
unto  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith. 
Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch 
cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide  in  the 
vine ;  no  more  can  ye,  except  ye  abide  in  me. 
I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches:  he  that 
abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth 
forth  much  fruit:  for  without  me  ye  can  do 
nothing.  Of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of 
God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness, 
and  sanctification,  and  redemption.  Ye  are 
dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then 
shall  ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory."1 

And  all  this  the  settled  bent  and  bias  of  the 
soul :  not  a  fit  of  religion  for  a  day,  or  a  week,  or 
a  month,  or  a  year;  but  that  which  an  inward 
principle  of  divine  grace,  prompts  the  soul  per- 
petually to  follow ;  which  has  been  chosen  once, 
but  chosen  for  life,  and  which  the  soul  would 
not  renounce  for  all  the  world. 

This  is  experienced  by  the  truly  pious  in  every 
land.  God  rules  in  the  heart.  Christ  is  loved. 
His  word  is  prized  and  regarded.  Heaven  is 
sought ;  prayer  is  loved ;  sin  is  hated ;  their 
hopes,  their  feelings,  their  sorrows,  and  their  joy  a 
are  all  connected  with  religion,  and  are  in 
substance  of  the  same  description.  They  may 
have  their   conflicts,   but  these  mark   life    noi 

(l)  Gal  ii  20.    Heb.  xii.  2.  John,  xv  4,5.    1  Cor.  i.  30.  Ccl.  fii.  3, 4. 


VANITY  OF  A  FORMAL  RELIGION.  71 

death:  a  dead  soldier  fights  no  battles.  They 
may  have  their  fears;  these  often  mark  their 
anxiety  to  be  right.  They  may  have  their 
defects ;  but  their  inward  lamentations,  over 
what,  perhaps,  none  but  themselves  and  God 
perceives,  bear  testimony  to  their  unfeigned 
sincerity.  Happy  are  such  persons  wherever 
found !  They  are  the  Lord's,  and  are  his  now 
preparatory  to  being  his  for  ever. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  VANITY  AND  MISCHIEFS  OF   A   PORMAL    RELI- 
GION, AND  THE  NECESSITY  OF  DECISION. 

1.  True  religion  elevates  and  blesses  its 
possessors  ;  but  many  are  satisfied  with  what  the 
scripture  describes  as  a  vain  religion  ;*  a  false 
religion.  As  you  value  your  soul,  guard  against 
such  delusion  ;  a  delusion  that  would  spread  its 
blasting  influence  over  a  whole  eternity.  Life  is 
no  blessing  without  Christ,  and  its  loss  is  a  trifle 
to  the  loss  of  Christ.  Death  is  eternal  gain,  if 
Christ  is  ours  ;  but  if  a  vain  religion  deludes  the 
soul,  all  will  be  lost  that  should  bless  eternity. 
All  short  of  that  divine  change  of  heart  and 
character,  which  has  been  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  if  it  go  under  the  name  of  religion, 
will  but  deceive  and  undo  the  soul.  Where 
there  is  not  contrition  of  heart;  where  there  is 
habitual  negligence  about  the  interests  of  the 
deathless  soul ;  where  pride  of  mind  is  indulged, 
and  displayed  in  exalted  views  of  a  self-righteous 
kind,  and  in  want  of  a  teachable  spirit ;  where 

(1)  James,  i.  26. 


72  NO  GENUINE  PIETY  WITHOUT 

Christ  is  slighted  for  worldly  objects,  when  these 
interfere  with  his  claims  or  his  service  ;  where 
there  is  not  a  prayerful  spirit;  where  there  is 
not  love  to  the  cause  and  family  of  God  ;  where 
sin  is  trifled  with,  and  little  sins,  as  they  are 
termed,  or  beloved  sins  are  tolerated  and  al- 
lowed— where  this  is  the  case,  there  may  be  the 
name  of  religion,  but  it  is  a  vain  religion. 

2.  Where  there  is  not  the  sincere  surrender  o( 
the  heart  to  God,  though  there  may  be  a  profes- 
sion of  religion,  yet  that  religion  is  vain.  When 
God,  under  the  old  dispensation,  had  required 
from  Israel  the  best  and  most  perfect  animals 
in  sacrifice,  and  they  had  brought  inferior 
offerings,  he  said,  "If  ye  offer  the  blind  for 
sacrifice,  is  it  not  evil  ?  and  if  ye  offer  the  lame 
and  sick,  is  it  not  evil?  offer  it  now  unto  thy 
governor ;  will  he  be  pleased  with  thee  or  accept 
thy  person  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Ye  brought 
that  which  was  torn,  and  the  lame,  and  the  sick ; 
thus  ye  brought  an  offering:  should  I  accept 
this  of  your  hand  ?  saith  the  Lord.  But  cursed 
be  the  deceiver,  which  hath  in  his  flock  a  male, 
and  voweth,  and  sacrificeth  unto  the  Lord  a  cor- 
rupt thing  ;  for  I  am  a  great  King,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  and  my  name  i&  dreadful  among  the 
heathen."1  The  crime  against  which  the  wrath 
and  curse  of  God  were  denounced,  was  not  that 
of  making  no  offering,  but  of  not  offering  to  God 
the  best  in  the  possession  of  the  processed  wor- 
shippers. They  withheld  what  was  best,  and  tried 
to  put  him  off  with  some  meaner  offering.  Such 
is  the  conduct  of  multitudes  in  what  they  deem 
religion.     Some  have  the  habit  of  repeating  life- 

(1)  Malarhi,  i.  3.  13,  U. 


CONSECRATION  TO  GOD.  73 

less  words,  as  prayer,  who  never  pray.  Some 
have  the  form  of  godliness  without  the  power. 
Some  practise  smaller  duties,  tithe,  as  it  were, 
mint,  annise,  and  cummin,  while  they  neglect  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  mercy, 
and  truth.  Some  regard  what  are  deemed  the 
weightier  of  God's  commands,  while  they  are 
strangers  to  the  "faith  working  by  love,"  which 
prompts  its  professor  to  follow  universal  holiness. 
In  all  these  cases  the  heart  is  not  surrendered  to 
God.  The  sinner  has  not  become  a  subject  of 
that  kingdom  over  which  the  Saviour  rules.  Put 
the  conduct  of  such  persons  into  words,  and  how 
glaringly  wicked  it  appears: — The  almost  Chris- 
tian then  might  say,  "I  should  give  my  heart 
and  my  best  affections  to  God ;  but  I  am  not 
disposed  to  make  such  a  sacrifice:  I  am  willing 
to  respect  religion,  and  to  acknowledge  its  im- 
portance; but  not  quite  to  embrace  it.  I  am 
willing  to  go  as  far  as  I  can  go  with  it,  so  as  not 
quite  to  renounce  the  world,  nor  to  surrender 
myself  unfeignedly  body,  soul,  and  spirit  unto 
God.  Let  me  but  give  the  world  my  heart,  and 
all  short  of  that  offering  I  will  give  to  God." 
The  formalist  might  say,  "  I  never  mean  to  give 
my  affections  to  God,  or  to  surrender  myself  and 
interests  to  his  disposal.  I  will  give  the  world 
my  affections ;  but  I  will  give  to  God  the  form  of 
piety.  I  will  go  to  his  house  on  the  Lord's  day, 
and  will  slight  him  all  the  week.  I  will  daily 
utter  some  solemn  form  of  prayer;  but  even 
while  I  am  uttering  the  words,  my  heart  shall  not 
go  with  them,  but  the  world  shall  have  my 
thoughts.  I  will  call  God,  my  God  and 
Redeemer ;  but  I  will  neither  seek  his  favour,  nor 


74  MARKS  THAT  EV1  -  ENCE 

care  for  his  displeasure,  nor  promote  his  glory, 
nor  heed  his  commandments."  Who  with  the 
lips  would  utter  such  impious  resolutions!  yet 
as  well  might  they  be  spoken  by  the  lips,  as 
spoken  in  the  daily  conduct  of  the  life.  In  that 
they  are  daily  uttered  by  every  formal  professor 
of  religion,  by  every  one  who  refuses  to  surrender 
himself  to  God. 

3.  There  are  many  marks,  by  which  a  vain 
religion  may  be  distinguished,  from  that,  which 
is  genuine  in  its  nature,  and  divine  in  its  origin. 

All  religion  is  vain  which  does  not  influence 
the  conduct,  which  does  not  soften  and  change, 
and  which  does  not  govern  and  direct  the  af- 
fections. It  is  not  meant  to  assert,  that  all  is 
vain,  which  does  not  immediately  elevate  the 
Christian  to  the  perfect  standard  of  Christian 
piety  ;  but  that  all  is  so  which  does  not  exert  a 
ruling,  an  increasing  influence  over  the  conduct, 
the  heart,  and  the  temper.  Where  the  heart  is  not 
humbled,  where  sin  is  not  hated,  Christ  is  pro- 
fessed in  vain.  Where,  instead  of  humility,  pride 
maintains  its  sway  ;  where,  instead  of  gentleness 
and  meekness  being  followed,  passion  and  rage 
still  mark  as  unchanged  the  temper;  where  a 
misplaced  word,  or  a  slighting  expression  or  look 
is  sufficient  to  occasion  a  storm  of  anger,  reli- 
gion is  vain.  Practical  piety  is  described  as 
connected  with  the  M  work  of  faith,  and  labour  of 
love,  and  patience  of  hope  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  our  Father."1 
But  faith  without  its  work,  love  without  its  la- 
bours, hope  without  patience,  all  are  vain,  and 
mark  a  vain  religion. 

(1)  1  Thes.  i.  3. 


A  VAIN  RELIGION.  76 

Where  religion  is  not  the  first  thing,  the  soul's 
chief  concern,  there  is  every  reason  to  apprehend 
it  is  a  vain  religion.  The  Lord  said  to  some  of 
old,  "  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name 
that  thou  livest,  and  art  dead.  Be  watchful, 
and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,  that  are 
ready  to  die :  for  I  have  not  found  thy  works 
perfect  before  God."1  "1  know  thy  works, 
that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot :  I  would 
thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So  then  because  thou 
art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will 
spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth.  Because  thou 
sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and 
have  need  of  nothing ;  and  knowest  not  that  thou 
art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind, 
and  naked/'2  His  admonition  to  all  is,  "  Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteous- 
ness."3 Many  persons  who  are  all  life,  vigour 
and  activity,  where  worldly  interests  are  con- 
cerned, appear  slothfulness  itself,  where  religious 
interests  are  at  stake.  Hence  they  are  eager  for 
worldly  prosperity,  but  not  eager  for  spiritual 
improvement;  attentive  to  the  state  of  their 
worldly  affairs,  but  not  attentive  to  the  statd 
of  their  hearts.  They  profess  to  renounce  all 
for  Christ,  yet  wilfully  offend  him,  sooner 
than  endure  worldly  inconvenience  or  loss. 
They  dread  the  displeasure  of  an  employer  or  a 
customer,  more  than  his  displeasure.  They  are 
at  heart  more  anxious  for  the  world's  favour 
than  for  the  favour  of  God.  They  profess  to  take 
the  life  to  come,  as  their  inheritance,  but  in  reality 
evidently  regard  this  world  as  their  chief  portion 

(1)  Rev.  iii.  1,  2.  (2;  Rw.  iii.  13-17.         (3)  Matt.  vi.  3a 


76  MARKS  0?  A  VAIN  RELIGION. 

Instead  of  making  every  thing  bend  to  religion, 
religion  must  bend  to  the  world,  and  eternal  in- 
terests be  hazarded  if  temporal  ones  are  to  be 
secured.     Alas,  their  religion  is  vain. 

Religion  is  vain  where  its  professed  possessors 
slight  those  privileges  and  means,  which  are 
designed  to  promote  its  influence  and  are  in- 
different to  the  universality  of  its  claims.  Love 
to  communion  with  God  in  private,  distinguishes 
true  piety.  Lov*j  to  his  public  ordinances  has 
ever  marked  his  people.  David  said,  "  As  for  me 
I  will  call  upon  God ;  and  the  Lord  shall  save 
me.  Evening,  and  morning,  and  at  noon,  will  I 
pray,  and  cry  aloud ;  and  he  shall  hear  my 
voice.  Hearken  unto  the  voice  of  my  cry,  my 
King,  and  my  God ;  for  unto  thee  will  I  pray. 
]My  voice  shall  thou  hear  in  the  morning,  O 
Lord  :  in  the  morning  will  I  direct  my  prayer 
unto  thee,  and  will  look  up.  Lord,  I  have 
loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house,  and  the  place 
where  thine  honour  dwelleth.  I  was  glad  when 
they  said  unto  me,  Let  us  go  into  the  house  of 
the  Lord."1  To  Christians  it  is  said,  "  Let  us 
consider  one  another  to  provoke  unto  love  and 
to  good  works :  not  forsaking  the  assembling 
of  ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is; 
but  exhorting  one  another:  and  so  much  the 
more,  as  ye  see  the  day  approaching."*  Love 
to  the  word  of  God  distinguishes  the  pious  soul. 
The  Psalmist  describes  its  instructions,  us 
"  more  to  be  desired  than  gold,  yea,  than  much 
fine  gold:  sweeter  also  than  honey,  and  the 
honey-comb."3     And  of  the  man  who  is  truiy 

(1)  Psalm,  lv.  16. 17.  Psalm,  v.  2,  3.  Psalm,  xxvi.  8.  Psalm,  cxxii.  i 
(2)  JHeb.  x.  24,  So.        (3j  Psalm,  xix.  10. 


LIFE  WITHOUT  RELIGION  A  BLANK.  77 

blessed  it  is  declared,  "  his  delight  is  in  the  law 
of  the  Lord,  and  in  his  law  doth  he  meditate  day 
and  night.  And  he  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted 
by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth  his 
fruit  in  his  season;  his  leaf  also  shall  not  wither, 
and  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper."1 

Where,  instead  of  such  dispositions,  there  is 
little  value  for  communion  with  God,  and  private 
prayer  is  disregarded  or  lightly  valued,  there  is 
every  reason  to  apprehend  a  state  of  spiritual 
and  eternal  death.  Entire  neglect  of  prayer  is  a 
sure  token  of  spiritual  death.  The  prayerless  in 
effect  say,  "We  have  nothing  to  do  with  God. 
Wre  desire  no  intercourse  with  him  f  and  none 
is  maintained.  They  are  atheists  in  practice, 
and  if  professedly  Christians,  worse,  in  one  view, 
than  atheists ;  as  they  believe  in  God  and  neg- 
lect him.  Neglect  of  prayer,  while  marking 
spiritual  death,  renders  the  wretched  and  guilty 
neglectors,  like  devils  and  the  damned ;  they 
never  pray ;  and  makes  them  Satan's  property. 
As  well  might  we  expect  to  find  piety  in  hell 
as  in  a  prayerless  heart.  They  who  profess  reli- 
gion, but  who  pay  little  regard  to  prayer,  who 
for  every  trifle  slight  public  worship,  and  neglect 
the  blessed  book  of  God,  clearly  prove,  that  even 
their  religion  is  vain.  And  as  religion  is  designed 
to  subdue  and  transform  the  whole  man,  that 
which  allows  of  sin,  if  not  very  open  and  flagrant, 
and  pays  little  attention  to  growing  holiness,  is 
a  mere  delusion,  a  profession  without  possession, 
a  form  without  life. 

4.  Life  without  religion  is  a  dreary  blank.  The 
beasts,  the  birds,  the  reptiles,  answer  the  end  of 

1)  Psalm,  i.  2,  3. 
H 


78  VARIOUS  EVILS  OF 

their  existence  ;  butman,  without  piety,  had  better 
never  have  been  born.  This  is  as  really  the  case, 
where  formality  is  put  in  the  place  of  heartfelt 
piety,  and  where  religion  is  vain,  as  where  there 
is  no  appearance  or  profession  whatever.  Many 
are  the  evils  inseparably  connected  with  an  in- 
sufficient religion. 

A  vain  religion  imparts  no  saving  blessings. 
It  gives  no  title  to  an  interest  in  the  Saviour's 
merits;  and  is  vain  as  to  restoring  to  man  the 
divine  likeness  which  he  has  lost,  Religion  is  de- 
signed to  impress  on  a  fallen  immortal  the  like- 
ness of  his  holy  Creator  ;  to  infuse  into  his  nature 
those  dispositions  and  principles,  which  may  grow 
beneath  the  inclement  sky  of  this  world ;  but 
which  will  ripen  to  full  perfection,  among  the 
blessed,  beneath  the  brighter  skies  of  heaven. 
Religion  is  designed  to  qualify  its  possessors  to 
associate  with  angels  and  the  spirits  of  the 
just,  by  making  them  partakers  of  the  same 
principles,  and  feelings,  love,  and  hatred,  and 
character  as  they.  But  a  vain  religion  answers 
none  of  these  designs.  It  leaves  the  sinner 
where  it  found  him,  estranged  from  God,  and 
perishing  in  sin;  though  he  may  have  put  on  a 
mask  of  piety,  which  open  sinners  do  not  wear. 

The  possessor  of  a  vain  religion,  if  not  a  wilful 
hypocrite,  is  a  miserable  self-deceiver.  Has  he 
a  hope,  it  is  a  false  one.  He  thinks  his  state 
better  than  that  of  mere  worldly  men  around  him. 
In  this  he  deceives  himself;  for  it  is  really  no 
better.  His  sins  are  as  much  upon  him,  as 
theirs  on  them.  His  heart  is  as  truly  unchanged  ; 
and  as  really  estranged  from  God.  He  has  no 
more  interest  in  the  Father's  favour,  in  the  love 


A  VAIN  RELIGION.  79 

of  the  Son,  and  in  the  blessings  of  eternal  life, 
than  is  possessed  by  more  profligate  sinners. 
Heaven  is  no  more  his  than  theirs ;  and  hell  is  no 
more  escaped  by  him  than  by  them.  Unhappy 
creature!  he  disregards  the  most  solemn  warn- 
ings, for  he  thinks  they  are  meant  for  others,  not 
for  himself;  and,  probably,  may  never  wake  to  a 
knowledge  of  his  real  character  and  situation,  till 
he  wakes  amidst  the  horrors  of  eternal  ruin. 

5.  In  some  views  a  vain  religion  is  the  most 
dreadful  of  evils.  If  earthly  hopes  prove  falla- 
cious, if  friends  betray,  if  health  is  vain,  and 
prospects  deceitful,  religion  still  might  enrich 
and  bless  you;  and  might  give  you  brighter 
prospects,  and  unfailing  friends,  and  hopes  in 
which  there  is  no  deception,  and  a  country  where 
the  inhabitant  shall  never  say,  "  I  am  sick."  But 
if  your  religion  is  vain,  even  your  religion,  that 
should  be  the  source  of  all  your  blessings,  even 
this  vain,  then  what  shall  do  you  good  ! 

In  one  view  a  vain  religion  is  worse  than  none 
at  all.  It  deceives  the  soul ;  and  renders  it  a 
more  certain  and  easy  prey  for  its  infernal  foe. 
The  religion  of  the  formalist  is  not  vain,  as  to 
accomplishing  Satan's  purposes.  These  it  ef- 
fectually promotes.  It  blinds  the  deathless  spirit 
till  its  day  of  grace  is  over.  Lulls  it  asleep  in 
false  security  and  sin,  till  in  eternity  it  awakes, 
as  from  a  pleasing  and  delusive  dream,  to  utter 
misery ;  and  in  a  moment  feels  itself  in  a  state 
of  unpardoned  guilt  and  hopeless  wretchedness. 
Behold  such  an  unhappy  self- deceiver.  He 
passes  through  life  deluded  ;  talks  of  a  Saviour 
in  whom  he  has  no  interest,  and  heaven  in  which 
he  has  no  part.     At  length  he  dies,  and  dies  de- 


80  A  VAIN  RELIGION  RUINOUS. 

luded.  He  enters  eternity,  and  the  delusion 
vanishes.  Sudden  as  the  lightning  from  the 
blackest  cloud,  and  more  terrific  than  the  thun- 
ders of  the  most  appalling1  tempest,  the  convic- 
tion darts  upon  him,  that  he  has  lived  and  died 
deceived  ;  and  he  is  overwhelmed  with  storms  of 
misery  and  mountainous  billows  of  woe.  O 
reader,  guard  against  the  delusions  of  a  vain 
religion  !  guard  against  a  formal  profession  of 
piety  !  To  treat  with  comparative  indifference 
what  a  Saviour  was  born  and  died  to  bestow,  and 
what  martyred  millions  have  laid  down  life  to 
secure,  is  a  folly  past  expression.  Consider  the 
Saviour's  solemn  and  decisive  language  :  "  Veri- 
ly, verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have 
no  life  in  you."1 

"  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing  ;"2  absolutely 
nothing  that  shall  benefit  your  soul,  unless  you 
cordially  receive  him,  and  in  his  strength  live  to 
God.  Formality  cannot  long  avail  you  any 
thing.  It  cannot  truly  comfort  you  here.  It 
cannot  pass  the  Judge's  bar.  It  cannot  secure 
you  a  place  in  heaven.  It  cannot  save  you  from 
the  depths  of  hell.  It  can  indeed  prevent  your 
enjoying  any  of  the  blessings  the  Saviour  died  to 
purchase.  It  can  delude  you  worse  than  even  a 
profligate  is  deluded;  but  no  one  good  can  it 
ever  accomplish  for  you.  Nothing  can  supply 
the  place  of  a  vital  union  with  Christ,  and  of  an 
interest  in  him.  No  knowledge,  no  morality,  no 
freedom  from  grosser  crimes,  no  serious  desires, 
no  occasional  convictions,  no  Gutward  forms, 
will  prove  a  substitute  for  Him.     You  can  have 

{])  John,  vi.  53.  (2)  John,  xv.  5. 


NO  NEUTRALITY  AS  TO  RELIGION.  81 

no  life,  till  \ou  are  brought  to  the  Lord  Jesus  as 
a  humble  penitent  believer.  Till  then  you  will 
be  dead  as  the  most  dead ;  unpardoned  as  the 
most  unpardoned  ;  perishing  as  the  most  pe- 
rishing ;  and  condemned  as  really  as  the  most 
condemned.  "How  long,"  then,  "halt  you  be- 
tween two  opinions  ?  If  the  Lord  be  God,  follow 
him;  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him."1 

6.  While  a  vain  religion  is  as  useless  and  mis- 
chievous, as  has  now  been  represented  ;  so  let  it 
be  impressed  upon  your  heart,  that  indecision  is 
equally  ruinous.  Where  God  and  religion  are 
concerned,  there  is  no  neutrality.  In  a  thousand 
cases  of  difference  and  dissention  you  might  say, 
"  I  am  of  neither  side ;"  but  not  so  here.  If  you 
are  not  with  Christ,  you  are  in  his  view  against 
him.2  If  not  a  friend,  you  are  an  enemy.  If 
not  pardoned,  you  are  condemned.  If  not  lovely 
in  God's  sight,  you  are  hateful.  If  not  saved, 
you  are  lost.  If  not  travelling  to  heaven,  you  are 
doomed  to  hell.  There  is  no  neutral  ground  be- 
tween the  armies  of  the  Prince  of  Light  and  the 
prince  of  darkness.  There  is  no  middle  state. 
This  is  abundantly  evident  from  the  uniform 
language  of  the  scriptures.  The  Lord  Jesus 
speaks  of  two  ways,  and  but  two,  in  one  or  the 
other  of  which  all  mankind  are  travelling  :3  one 
broad  and  crowded,  but  leading  to  destruction ; 
the  other  narrow  and  unfrequented,  but  conduct- 
ing the  few  travellers  in  it  to  eternal  life.  In 
figurative  language  he  represents  mankind  as 
divided  into  the  tares  and  the  wheat;4  compares 
them  to  noxious  weeds  or  to  useful  grain,  yet 

(1)  1  Kings,  xviii.  21.     (2)  Matt.  xii.  30.     (3)  Matt.  vii.  13, 14. 
(4)  Matt.  xiii.  25. 

h3 


82  MANKIND  FORM  BUT  TWO  CLASSES  : 

speaks  of  two  divisions,  and  but  two.  Elsewhere 
the  family  of  man  is  described  as  divided  into 
the  children  of  the  kingdom  and  of  the  wicked 
one,  of  God  or  of  the  devil.1  The  truly  pious 
are  quickened  or  made  alive  by  God,  and  the 
rest  of  mankind  are  the  children  of  wrath.2  True 
Christians  are  of  God,  while  the  whole  world 
lieth  in  wickedness.3  The  uniform  language  of 
scripture  represents  mankind  as  divided  into  the 
two  classes  of  the  righteous  and  the  unrighteous. 
All  are  dead,  or  living  to  Christ;  are  in  a  state 
of  death,  or  have  passed  into  life  ;  are  forgiven, 
or  unforgiven  ;  converted,  or  unconverted  ;  con- 
sequently, blessed,  or  cursed  ;  ready  for  heaven, 
or  ready  for  hell.  In  conformity  with  these  re- 
presentations, no  middle  class  appears  at  the 
judgment  bar  ;  all  are  righteous,  or  unrighteous; 
at  the  Judge's  right  hand,  or  his  left;  and  in 
eternity  no  middle  state  is  apparent,  heaven  or 
hell  will  become  the  abode  of  every  child  of  man. 
7.  Among  the  two  immense  bodies  into  which 
the  scriptures  thus  divide  mankind,  there  may- 
be, and  are,  many  varieties,  though  in  what  de- 
cides their  state  there  is  a  pleasing  or  dreadful 
uniformity.  Life  may  be  weak,  as  it  is  in  an 
infant ;  but  it  is  still  life,  and,  unless  extinguish- 
ed, will  soon  manifest  its  reality  by  its  increasing 
vigour.  Death  may  seem  lovely,  as  in  the  corpse 
that  yet  retains  the  bloom  of  health  ;  but  it  is 
still  death,  and  soon  will  evidence  its  fatal  reign. 
Among  the  children  of  God  are  babes,  and 
young  men,  and  fathers  in  Christ.4  Some  bear 
of  the  fruits  of  holiness  thirty,  some  sixty,  and 

(1)  Matt. xiii.3-8.1  John,  iii.  10.    (2)  Eph.  ii.  1,2.    (3)1  Johu,v.l9. 
(4)  1  John,  ii.  12,  &c. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  IRRELIGIOUS.  83 

some  a  hundred  foldi  Among  the  crowds  that 
throng  the  downward  way,  some  are  disgusting 
profligates;  othei'S  scoffing  infidels;  others  only 
careless  of  religion  ;  others  amiable,  moral,  and 
kind ;  others  almost  persuaded  to  be  Christians, 
yet  still  withholding  their  hearts  from  God. 

Among  these  are  many  varieties.  Some  seek 
religion  for  a  time,  and  then  desist  from  the  pur- 
suit of  its  blessings.  Others  try  to  unite  the  love 
of  Christ  and  of  the  world.  Many  never  at  heart 
sacrifice  all  things  for  him  ;  and  so,  if  they  even 
jDrofess  religion,  only  stand  till  the  day  of  trial 
comes.  A  new  and  more  profitable,  though  ir- 
religious situation,  or  an  ungodly  wife  or  hus- 
band, has  charms  sufficient  to  draw  them  aside. 
Many,  like  the  young  ruler,  ask  how  they  may 
attain  eternal  life ;  but  dislike  a  path  so  narrow, 
and  "  choose  the  way  that's  wide,  and  strive  to 
think  it  right."  Many  halt  between  the  world 
and  Christ,  like  Israel  when  Elijah  said,  "  How 
long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions  ?  If  the  Lord 
be  God,  follow  him ;  but  if  Baal,  then  follow 
him."2  Such  a  state  is  a  state  of  ruin.  Those 
who  act  thus,  are  not  persons  that  are  at  rest  in 
sin ;  such  are  not  halting  between  two  opinions, 
but  are  the  willing  slaves  of  an  infernal  master. 
But  the  description  represents  those  who  are,  as 
to  religion,  wavering  and  irresolute,  sometimes 
one  thing,  and  sometimes  the  other.  Now  earn- 
est, then  negligent.  Now  attentive  to  religious 
ordinances,  then  trifling  with  them.  Now  at 
God's  house,  then  at  that  of  Satan.  A  Christian 
with  Christians,  and  a  worldling  with  the  world. 

8.   The  Lord  Jesus  solemnly  declares,  "No 

(1)  Matt.  xiii.  23.  (2)  1  Kings,  xviii.  3i 


84      ALL  THAT  HAVE  THE  GOSPEL  ARE 

man  can  serve  two  masters ;  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other ;  or  else  he  will 
hold  to  the  one,  and  despise  the  other.  Ye  can- 
not serve  God  and  mammon."1  He  confirms 
this  solemn  truth  in  words  to  which  reference 
has  recently  been  made.  "He  that  is  not  with 
me  is  against  me,  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with 
me  scattereth  abroad."  He  that  is  not  my  deci- 
ded friend,  I  consider  as  my  decided  foe;  and  he 
that  does  not  help,  injures  my  cause.  Thus  the 
Lord  Jesus  leaves  you  no  alternative  between 
decision  and  rebellion.  Do  you  say,  "This  is 
hard.  I  would  not  be  his  enemy;  but  at  heart 
to  sacrifice  all  for  him,  and  to  take  up  my  cross 
and  follow  him,  is  more  than  I  am  willing  to  do  ;" 
it  were  easy  to  show  that  this  is  not  hard ;  that 
what  he  requires  is  just  and  reasonable;  that 
only  the  exceeding  wickedness  of  the  heart  would 
make  you  wish  to  offer  less  :  but  hard  or  not,  so 
it  is.  His  judgment  will  decide  your  eternal 
state;  and  he  has  already  decided,  "He  that  is 
not  with  me  is  against  me."  There  is  no  alterna- 
tive, but  unconditional  submission  to  him,  or 
continued  rebellion  against  him :  between  these 
make  your  choice. 

Examine  your  condition.  Since  there  is  no 
middle  way,  no  middle  state,  you  are,  at  this 
moment,  either  condemned  or  uncondemned ; 
either  not  forgiven  or  forgiven;  either  lost  or  sa- 
ved. Have  you  reason  to  fear  that  the  former  is 
your  lot  ?  O,  pray  for  grace  at  once  to  cast  your- 
self at  the  Saviour's  feet !  for,  according  to  the 
principles  the  Lord  himself  has  laid  down,  you 
are  his  foe  till  you  become  his  friend.    You  are 

(1)  Matt.  vi.  24. 


l'HE  FRIENDS  OR  THE  ENEMIES  OF  CHRIST.      85 

an  enemy  till  you  are  a  child.  You  are  lost  till 
you  are  saved.  You  are  cursed  till  you  are 
blessed.  You  have  all  blessings  in  his  love  and 
favour,  or  all  curses  in  impenitence  and  indeci- 
sion. You  are  a  rebel  till  you  receive  Christ. 
There  may  be  some  dispositions  to  penitence 
in  your  breast;  there  may  be  some  desires  after 
religion  ;  there  may  be  some  esteem  for  the  Ijord 
Jesus  ;  but  still  you  are  a  rebel,  till  you  receive 
him  as  your  Lord  and  your  all.  A  country  re- 
bels against  the  most  benevolent  of  Monarchs. 
The  King  sends  his  Son  with  overtures  of  mercy. 
This  exalted  Messenger  of  his  Father's  love,  in- 
vites and  entreats  these  rebels  to  submit,  and  to 
receive  mercy  and  pardon.  Part  of  them  scorn 
his  offers  and  himself.  Part  of  them  persist  in 
obstinate  rebellion  :  but  a  part  waver;  think  of 
the  mercy  proffered  ;  feel  half  disposed  to  yield  ; 
at  times  advance,  as  if  going  to  cast  themselves 
at  the  prince's  feet ;  seem  ready  to  throw  down 
their  arms  ;  do  all  but  yield.  Yet  they  are  rebels 
still,  as  truly  as  their  more  obstinate  companions 
At  length  some  of  them  throw  down  their  arms; 
cast  themselves  at  their  injured  Sovereign's  feet ; 
yield,  and  welcome  his  mercy.  Till  that  moment 
they  were  rebels.  From  that  moment  they  are 
rebels  no  longer.  —  The  application  is  easy.  Thus 
many  sinners  act.  They  listen  to  the  gospel ; 
profess  to  venerate  its  Author ;  seem  to  advance 
almost  to  his  mercy-seat,  and  to  his  bleeding  cross. 
They  appear  ready  to  cast  themselves  at  his  feet, 
yet  do  not  quite  submit.  Alas,  they  are  enemies 
still !  enemies  while  halting  !  while  wavering ! 
while  delaying  !  and  never  do  they  become  chil- 
dren, till  they,  in  effect,  cast  themselves  at  his 


86  INDECISION  AS  TO  RELIGION 

/ 

feet  with,  "Lord,  save  or  I  perish!    Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  !" 

9.  The  soul  is  as  much  ruined  by  indecision, 
or  by  trifling  with  Christ,  as  by  open  hostility. 
The  gospel  is  really  made  light  of,  where  it  is  not 
the  object  of  our  first  and  chief  concern  ;  and 
Christ  is  rejected  as  really  by  the  trifler  as  the 
infidel.  Suppose  a  number  of  persons  to  be  af- 
flicted with  some  dreadful  plague.  A  physician 
prescribes  for  them,  and  proffers  a  medicine  of 
infallible  efficacy.  Some  of  the  sufferers  reject 
the  medicine  and  call  it  poison.  Others  extol 
its  virtues,  but  never  take  it.  Where  in  the  end 
is  the  difference  ?  and  where,  at  length,  the  dif- 
ference between  the  infidel  who  rejects  the  gos- 
pel, and  the  undecided  who  neglects  to  embrace 
the  great  salvation  ?  A  stranger  bent  on  a  bene- 
volent errand,  goes  through  a  village,  and  calls 
at  every  dwelling.  The  inhabitant  of  one  house 
blusters  at  him  for  knocking  at  his  door,  and 
dismisses  him  with  savage  ferocity.  Another, 
before  he  can  hear  his  errand,  shuts  the  door  in 
his  face.  A  third  receives  him  cordially  ;  com- 
mends his  benevolent  intentions  ;  extols  and  ad- 
mires his  disinterestedness  ;  but  takes  no  notice 
of  his  message.  Where,  as  to  benefit  from  the 
stranger's  message,  in  the  end,  is  the  difference 
between  these  seemingly  different  persons  ?  and 
where,  at  last,  between  the  scoffer  or  blasphemer, 
and  the  undecided  ?  They  all  in  fact  reject 
Christ,  though  the  latter  do  so  in  a  softer  manner 
than  the  former. 

10.  Consider,  then,  I  beseech  you,  that  a  pre- 
cious and  great  salvation  is  set  before  you  in  the 

osoel*  that  an  almighty  and  infinitely  excellent 


AS  RUINOUS  AS  HOSTILITY.  87 

Saviour  claims  your  heart,  and  all  you  have  and 
are.  Never  forget  that  there  is  no  alternative 
between  being-  his  from  the  heart,  or  his  in  no 
degree  ;  that  there  is  no  alternative  here  between 
religion  or  more  aggravated  guilt;  and  hereafter 
between  heaven  and  deeper  ruin,  than  would 
have  been  your  lot  if  the  gospel  had  never 
reached  you.  They  that  will  not  lead  a  life  of 
holiness,  must  lead  a  life  of  sin  ;  and  they  that 
will  not  be  God's  children,  must  be  the  devil's 
slaves.  If  hostility  were  necessary  to  deprive 
you  of  Christ,  you  might,  though  undecided, 
hope  for  escape.  If  open  enmity  were  requisite 
to  undo  you,  you  might  plead,  "I  abhor  open 
enmity  against  such  infinite  excellence."  But 
only  neglect  the  Saviour,  only  obey  not  the  gos- 
pel, and  you  are  undone.  This  wiU  kill  your  soul 
like  famine,  that  kills  by  starvation,  as  effectually 
as  the  sword  that  kills  by  piercing  its  victim's 
heart.  This  indecision  will  keep  you  utterly 
poor,  and  destitute  of  all  spiritual  blessings.  This 
will  make  you  helpless,  guilty,  condemned,  like 
infidels  in  portion.  This  will  cause  you  to  pass 
a  few  years  of  sin  as  a  rebel  against  infinite 
goodness,  and  this  will  render  you  a  lost  soul 
through  eternal  ages  of  despair.  Then  for  ever 
and  ever  will  you  have  to  utter  the  tormenting 
lamentation,  "I  chose  this  sorrow  when  J  would 
not  go  to  Christ  for  life;  when  I  would  waver 
between  the  world  and  him."  Unhappy  crea- 
ture, how  much  better  would  it  have  been  for  you 
never  to  have  been  born !  how  much  better  to 
have  been  a  dog,  or  a  serpent,  or  a  toad,  or  the 
most  contemptible  insect,  or  the  most  disgusting 
reptile,  than  to  possess  immortal  powers,  and 


83  DECISION  URGED. 

become  a  lost  soul  through  wicked  neglect  of  an 
all-compassionate  Saviour ! 

If  you  could  go  out  of  the  world  as  you  came 
into  it,  trifling  and  indecision  might  have  some 
excuse,  but  this  is  impossible.  As  here  there 
is  no  alternative  presented  to  you,  but  religion  or 
irreligion,  so  you  must  die,  a  happy  saint  or  an 
undone  sinner.  And  you  must  go  hence,  to  be- 
come as  happy  as  angels,  or  more  wretched  than 
guilty  and  miserable  Sodom.  You  must  rise  to 
the  happiest  heaven,  or  sink  to  the  deepest  and 
most  dismal  hell.  If  you  would  follow  what 
would  deceive  you,  continue  undecided  and  fol- 
low the  world.  If  you  would  be  left  helpless  in 
affliction,  and  in  death,  and  in  eternity,  still  trifle 
with  Christ  and  follow  the  world.  If  you  would 
be  like  the  wretched  and  despairing  when  dying, 
then  follow  the  world,  and  still  refuse  to  surren- 
der yourself  to  the  Saviour.  And  if  you  would 
have  your  portion  with  the  damned,  neglect  the 
Saviour  for  a  little  longer,  and  all  will  be  accom- 
plished, and  the  direful  deed  will  be  done.  But 
if  you  would  have  peace  with  God  ;  if  you  would 
possess  well-founded  hope ;  if  you  would  be 
cheered  with  immortal  prospects ;  if  you  would 
have  an  everlasting  arm  placed  beneath  your 
dying  pillow  ;  if  you  would  meet  the  welcome, 
"  Come  in,  thou  blessed  ;"  if  you  would  be  a 
child  of  God  for  ever —  flee  to  the  Saviour.  At 
whatever  loss  flee  to  the  Saviour.  Whoever 
would  hinder  you  go  to  the  Saviour,  and  commit 
your  soul,  your  heart,  your  all,  to  him,  to  be 
truly  and  for  ever  his.  Would  companions  or 
friends  endeavour  to  hinder  you,  had  you  not 
better,  renounce  their  friendship,  than  give  up 


ENCOURAGEMENTS  TO  EMBRACE  RELIGION.     89 

eternal  good  ?  Had  you  not  better  go  without 
them  to  heaven,  than  with  them  to  hell  ?  Had 
you  not  better,  even  if  you  were  houseless  and 
friendless,  and  without  raiment  and  food,  be 
safe  in  Christ,  and  be  guided  by  him  to  the 
paradise  of  God,  than  halt  or  waver,  though  in 
the  midst  of  worldly  enjoymenl,  and  go  with  the 
careless  and  undecided  to  Satan's  dark  abode  ? 
—  The  God  of  mercy  guide  you  right ! 


CHAPTER  VI.  . 

ENCOURAGEMENTS  TO  EMBRACE  RELIGION,  FURNISH- 
ED BY  THE    GRACE  EXHIBITED  IN  THE  GOSPEL. 

1.  Ample  encouragement  to  seek  the  blessings 
of  heartfelt  piety,  is  presented  in  the  work  ef- 
fected by  the  blessed  Son  of  God ;  and  in  the 
displays  of  heavenly  love  manifested  in  him. 
Did  we  only  know  that  man  is  lost  and  guilty, 
and  were  it  impossible  to  point  out  a  refuge  for 
the  fallen  and  condemned,  it  would  be  useless  to 
contemplate  the  guilt  for  which  no  pardon  could 
be  found,  and  the  wretchedness  for  which  no  re- 
medy could  be  discovered.  But,  glory  to  God  in 
the  highest !  there  is  a  remedy,  for  there  is  a  Sa- 
viour. 

The  salvation  exhibited  in  the  gospel  is  infi- 
nitely precious;  it  is,  in  fact,  a  complication  of 
blessings,  every  one  of  which  is  of  invaluable  and 
eternal  worth. 

2.  Its  primary  blessing,  or  that  which  leads  to 
all  the  rest,  is  the  complete  forgiveness  of  sin. 
This  forgiveness  consists  in  the  eternal  God  no 

i 


90  FORGIVENESS  OF  SIN 

longer  charging  sin  to  the  sinner's  account. 
'*  Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not 
impute  (or  reckon)  sin." 

A  man  owes  me  a  debt.  I  cancel  it.  I  have 
now  no  charge  against  him.  Thus  the  blessed 
God  acts  when  he  pardons  a  transgressor.  He 
cancels  the  sinner's  debt.  Pardon  does  not,  in 
fact,  make  the  sinner  no  sinner ;  but  it  renders 
him  as  free  from  the  charge  of  transgression  as 
if  he  had  never  sinned.  This  forgiveness  is  most 
full,  reaching  to  every  offence;  and  it  is  most 
free,  without  money  and  without  price.  Many 
expressive  images  are  employed  in  the  scriptures, 
to  represent  the  completeness  of  forgiveness.  It 
is  said,  "  Thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea."1  Forgiven  sin  is  thus  remo- 
ved and  hidden,  as  if  buried  for  ever  in  the 
depths  of  the  unfathomable  ocean.  God  is  re- 
presented as  removing  sin  to  the  greatest  possible 
distance  from  the  soul.  "As  far  as  the  east  is 
from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  removed  our  trans- 
gressions from  us."2  In  the  most  expressive  of 
images  it  is  said  by  God  himself,  "Though  your 
sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow."3 
Snow  just  fallen  from  the  clouds  is  whiteness 
itself,  unsullied  whiteness  ;  it  presents  to  view 
only  one  sheet  of  dazzling  white.  Thus  com- 
pletely pardoning  mercy  blots  out  transgression, 
and  renders  the  pardoned  soul  as  free  from  the 
charge  of  sin.  as  the  newly- fallen  snow  from  every 
darkening  stain. 

Where  sin  is  thus  forgiven,  the  reign  of  sin  is 
at  an  end.  Sin  may  harass  the  soul,  and  temp- 
tation distress  it ;  but  sin  no  longer  governs  it, 

(1)  Micah,  yii.  19.         (2)  Pialm,  ci-ii.  12.        (3)  Isaiah,  i.  18. 


DELIVERANCE  FROM  CONDEMNATION.     91 

like  a  mighty  tyrant,  driving  at  his  pleasure  his 
crouching  slave.  "Let  not  sin,  therefore,  reign 
in  your  mortal  body,  that  ye  should  obey  it  in  the 
lusis  thereof.  For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion 
over  you  ;  for  ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace.  But  now  being  made  free  from  sin,  and 
become  servants  to  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto 
holiness,  and  the  end  everlasting  life."1 

3.  Consequent  on  deliverance  from  the  load  of 
guilt,  is  deliverance  from  its  awful  doom.  The 
soul  is  delivered  from  the  curse  of  the  law  it  had 
broken.  '*  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us."2  It  is  no 
longer  in  a  state  of  condemnation.  "  There  is  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  spirit/'3 
No  condemnation ;  none  whatever.  None  for 
past  transgressions,  and  none  for  present  but  la- 
mented unworthiness.  No  condemnation  :  every 
evil  consequence  of  sin,  as  far  as  the  soul  is  con- 
cerned, is  removed;  and  as  no  guilt  lies  unpar- 
doned upon  it,  so  no  evil  threatens  it  in  time  or 
eternity.  The  pardoned  penitent  is  declared  to 
be  justified.4  In  other  words,  is  made  just  or 
righteous;  has  sin  no  more  charged  to  him,  than 
if  he  had  never  committed  it;  and  is  regarded 
by  God  with  the  same  favour,  as  if  he  had  been 
a  perfectly  innocent  being. 

4.  The  partaker  of  salvation,  being  thus  blessed, 
enjoys  the  divine  favour,  and  "has  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"5  and  is 
blest  by  the  eternal   Father's  love.6     Through 

(!)  Rom.  vi.  12.  14.  22.  (2)  Gal.  iii.  13  (3)  Rom.  viii.  L 

(4)  Luke,  xviii.  14.    Rom.  iii.  24.  v.  1.        (5)  Rom.  v.  L 

(G)  Johi.,  xvi.  27. 


92  BLESSINGS  OF  SALVATION. 

wonderful  condescension  on  the  part  of  God,  the 
penitent  believer  is  numbered  with  his  children. 
"Now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not 
yet  appear  what  we  shall  be."1  "The  Spirit  it- 
self beareth  witness  with  our  spirits,  that  we  are 
the  children  of  God,  and  if  children  then  heirs, 
heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ."2 

These  happy  persons  have  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  Saviour  ;  who  delivers  them  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  He  is  their  Shepherd  ;  the  chief 
Shepherd;  the  good  Shepherd;  and  an  Advo- 
cate; who  ever  lives  to  intercede  for  them.3  The 
Spirit  of  God  becomes  their  helper ;  and  the 
source  of  love,  and  joy,  and  peace  to  their  souls.4 
Angels  are  ministering  spirits  to  every  heir  of 
salvation  ;5  and  death,  with  all  its  solemnities,  to 
them  will  be  gain.  When  absent  from  the  body 
they  are  present  with  the  Lord.6  At  length  the 
end  of  all  things  will  arrive,  and  salvation  begun 
when  guilt  was  taken  away,  will  be  perfected  by 
the  glories  of  the  resurrection  ;  by  the  solemn 
decisions  and  honours  of  the  judgment  day ;  and 
by  the  blessedness  of  eternal  life.7 

5.  This  salvation,  in  itself  so  rich  in  value, 
derives  additional  value  from  the  fact,  that  it  is 
an  eternal  salvation,  an  eternal  redemption. 
Look  down  in  your  imagination  to  the  pit  of  hell. 
Behold  its  horrors  —  its  darkness;  its  despair; 
its  torments ;  the  worm  that  never  dieth ;  and 
the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched;  and  con- 
sider, that  as  a  sinner  you  deserved  it  all,  and 

(1)  John,  iii.  1.  (2)  Rom.  viii.  16,  i7.    (3)  1  Thess  i.  10.  Tit.  ii.  1,  2. 
Heb.  v.  9.  John,  x.  11.  I  Peter,  v..5.  Rom.  viii.  34.  1  John,  ii.  2,  &c. 

(4)  John,  xiv.  16.  xvi.  7.      Rom.  v.  5.  viii.  11.  xv.  13.  &c.  &c. 

(5)  Heb.  i.  14.      (6)  Phil.  i.  21.  23.     2  Cor.  v.  8.    (7)  1  Cor.  xv. 
Phil.  ii.  21.  Matt.  xxv.  34.    Rev.  xxi. 


SALVATION  AN  ETERNAL  GOOD.  93 

were  exposed  to  it  all.  Then  lift  up  your  thoughts 
to  the  heavenly  world.  Think  of  life  without 
death  ;  peace  without  pain  ;  holiness  and  happi- 
ness without  defect.  Now  suppose  every  moment 
of  your  life  extended  to  ten  thousand  ages  ;  that 
you  had  as  many  times  ten  thousand  ages  to  live, 
as  you  have  lived  moments.  Think  of  all  these 
ages  spent  under  God's  frown,  and  transgression's 
load,  amidst  the  horrors  and  despair  of  damna- 
tion. How  awful  the  ruin  !  Think  of  a  deliver- 
ance thus  lasting,  and  of  all  these  ages  passed 
in  the  light  and  holiness  and  blessedness  of 
heaven.  How  precious  a  salvation !  yet  you 
have  not  thought  of  eternal  salvation.  As  many 
times  ten  thousand  ages  as  there  have  been  mo- 
ments in  your  life,  are  but  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye  compared  to  eternal  salvation  !  O,  think  of 
this  !  Think  and  feel,  that  if  you  live  neglectful 
of  salvation,  more  than  ten  thousand  ages  of 
despair  and  horror,  of  guilt  and  gloom,  await  you 
for  every  sinful  moment  spent  on  earth  ;  and  that 
if  you  enjoy  its  blessings,  more  than  ten  thousand 
centuries  of  happiness  and  rest,  of  joy  and  love, 
await  you  in  the  heavenly  world,  for  every  mo- 
ment spent  in  the  Redeemer's  service  here.  How 
precious  is  such  a  salvation  ! 

6.  How  can  man  be  just  with  God?  How  be- 
come an  heir  of  heaven  ?  How  can  such  a  good 
be  obtained  for  a  ruined  and  miserable  sinner  ? 
Many  ways  for  obtaining  peace  with  God,  have 
been  devised  by  the  blind  and  deluded  children 
of  men.  Offerings  and  forms,  and  acts  of  auste- 
rity and  penance,  have  formed  the  refuge,  the 
ruinous  refuge  of  many.  Others  have  rested  on 
penitence  and  charity ;  but  penitence  cannot 
13 


94  HOW  CAN  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD  ? 

wash  away  innumerable  transgressions ;  and  cha- 
rity to  man  can  never  compensate  for  ingratitude 
and  rebellion  against  God.  Others  have  relied 
on  human  works,  or  freedom  from  grosser  trans- 
gressions, and  attention  to  some  social  duties,  as 
expressed  in  the  spirit  of  one  of  old.  "  I  am  not 
as  other  men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers, 
or  even  as  this  publican.  I  fast  twice  in  the 
week.     I  give  tithes  of  all  I  possess/'1 

If  you  believe  some  previous  statements  from 
the  divine  word,  you  must  be  sensible  that  all 
these  are  entirely  insufficient,  and  cannot  make 
you  a  partaker  of  the  salvation  just  described. 
While  the  scriptures  represent  them  all  as  refuges 
of  lies,  that  the  overwhelming  flood  of  divine 
wrath  will  shortly  sweep  away,  that  blessed 
book  declares,  that  salvation  was  obtained  for 
men,  by  the  merits,  sufferings,  and  death  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  "obtained  eternal  re^ 
demption  for  us."2 

7.  To  accomplish  this  infinitely  benevolent 
object,  he  came  into  this  world,  and  the  Son  of 
God,  appeared  on  earth  as  the  Son  of  man. 
He,  "being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not 
robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  :  but  made  himself 
of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of 
a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men : 
and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  hum- 
bled himself,  and  became  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  cross."3  He  was  born  at 
Bethlehem.  The  infidel  and  would-be  philoso- 
pher, scoff  at  the  idea  of  God  incarnate.  But 
what  right  have  they  to  scoff;  that  they  should 

(1)  Lute,  xviii.  11.  (2)  Heb.  ix.  12.  See  also  x.  12.  19. 

1  Peter,  i.  18.  Dan.  ix.  24.     Is.  i.  3,  &c.  &c.        (3)  Phil.  ii.  6—8. 


CHRIST  OBTAINED  REDEMPTION  FOR  MAN.      95 

assert  that  to  be  absurd  and  impossible  which 
God  himself  asserts  actually  to  have  taken  place? 

Ask  such  men,  "What  is  matter?"  They 
cannot  tell  you.  "What  is  spirit?"  They  know 
nothing1  about  it.  "  What  binds  the  parts  of 
matter  tog-ether  ?"  They  cannot  tell.  What  is 
their  own  body  ?  What  the  soul  ?  What  the 
nature  of  the  union  of  the  two  ?  Of  all  this,  and 
of  the  plainest  facts  in  nature,  let  them  search  as 
far  as  man  can  go,  they  know  nothing;  and  yet  they 
know  so  much  about  God,  as  to  contradict  what 
he  declares  ;  or  to  disbelieve  the  most  precious 
truths  of  his  word,  because  of  their  incompre- 
hensible nature.  {'  Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in 
his  own  conceit :  there  is  more  hope  of  a  fool 
than  of  him."1  Let  the  infidel  scoff  then,  if  he 
will,  in  the  greatness  of  his  folly,  but  receive  it  as 
the  most  precious  of  truths,  that  He  who  "  was 
with  God,  and  was  God,"2  became  for  you  a  man 
of  sorrows  ;  and  then  atoned  for  sin  and  iniquity 
He  bore  the  curse  for  us.  The  Father  "hath  made 
him  to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."3 

8.  Contemplate  the  unbounded  love  that  such 
«i  plan  of  heavenly  grace  exhibits.  Think  of  the 
words  soon  uttered  but  never  exhausted:  "  God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begot- 
fen  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."4  "We 
have  seen  and  do  testify,  that  the  Father  sent  the 
Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world."5  Think  of 
'he  objects  of  this  strange  compassion.  Misera- 
r,'e  men  I  all  sinners !  all  dead !  all  rebels !  some 

(1)Prov.xxvil2.  (2)John,i.l.  (3)  2  Cor.  v.  21. 

(4)  Jonn,  iii.  16.        (5)  1  John,  iv.  14. 


96  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD. 

hardened,  others  heedless  !  Laden  with  mercies, 
and  forgetful  of  the  Giver !  History  tells  ns, 
that  Augustus,  having  twice  witnessed  the  ingra- 
titude of  one  of  his  subjects,  softened  him  when 
a  captive  rebel,  and  changed  him  into  a  friend  by 
a  third  time  bestowing  peculiar  favours  on  him. 
Thus  the  emperor's  treacherous  friend  was  soon 
won  to  him  ;  but  man  is  not  so  soon  won  to  God. 
The  Father  has  manifested  forbearance;  has  ut- 
tered in  his  word  entreaties  and  invitations;  has 
borne  with  provocations,  ingratitude,  and  insult ; 
and  yet  is  forgiving.  To  complete  all  he  gave 
his  best-beloved,  the  "  brightness  of  his  glory,  and 
the  express  image  of  his  person."1  He  sent  his 
Son  ;  and  thus,  as  it  were,  by  one  gift  exhausted 
the  treasures  of  infinite  benevolence  :  for  further 
in  displaying  love  how  could  even  God  advance  ! 
The  strange  and  matchless  love  thus  manifested, 
he  manifested  also  in  the  design  he  contemplated. 
He  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 

BELIEVETH   IN   HIM    SHOULD  NOT  PERISH  BUT  HAVE 

eternal  life.  He  would  have  manifested  love, 
if  he  had  consigned  a  world  of  rebels  to  non- 
existence ;  if,  when  indignation  and  wrath  had 
been  merited,  he  had  permitted  the  sinner  to 
forget  his  guilt  and  its  punishment  in  everlast- 
ing nothingness,  and  rendered  death,  what  infi- 
dels would  like  it  to  be,  an  eternal  sleep.  But 
such  was  the  Father's  love,  he  would,  through 
the  death  of  his  Beloved,  give  life.  And  not  a 
life  like  Adam's,  lengthened  to  almost  ten  cen- 
turies, or  ten  thousand  times  as  long,  but  eternal 
life;  and  delighting  in  the  happiness  of  the  par- 
doner* "  fvels  that  become  partakers  of  his  salva- 

(I)  Hcb.  i.  i 


THE  HUMILIATION  AND  LOVE  OF  CHRIST.        97 

tion,  he  calls  them  to  his  eternal  glory  by  Christ 
Jesus,  and  will  bless  them  with  eternal  freedom 
from  sorrows  and  from  sins.  O  wonderful  love 
of  God  !  and  wonderful  wickedness  of  infatuated 
man,  that  slights  and  disregards  such  patient 
and  unbounded  love ! 

9.  The  divine  love  manifested  in  the  scheme 
of  human  redemption,  was  most  gloriously  dis- 
played by  the  adorable  Son  of  God.  Though 
rich,  he  becomes  poor ;  and  says,  "  Lo,  I  come 
to  do  thy  will,  O  God."1  He  appears  on  earth  as 
the  babe  of  Bethlehem.  Angels  announce  his 
birth ;  because  of  it  they  say,  "  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,"2  and  direct  the  astonished  shepherds 
where  to  find  the  King  of  Glory.  Where  and  in 
what  state  must  the  shepherds  find  him?  As 
angels  appear,  with  a  countenance  like  lightning, 
and  raiment  white  as  snow  ?  No:  as  a  babe. 
Amidst  royal  pomp,  for  courtiers  to  honour  and 
nobles  to  praise  ?  Had  this  been  the  case,  had 
he  taken  a  monarch's  throne,  the  love  were  infi- 
nite. But,  no  !  he  does  not  thus  appear — he  is 
a  babe  amidst  poverty  and  want.  The  time  of 
his  sojourning  below  rolls  on,  and  he  says, 
"  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  nests ; 
but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his 
head."3  At  length  he  dies,  and  dies  not  a  hasty, 
but  a  lingering  death ;  not  an  easy,  but  a  tor- 
menting death  ;  not  in  a  chamber  surrounded  by 
sympathizing  friends,  but  on  the  cross,  beset  by 
insulting  enemies ;  with  nothing  to  lessen  its  bit- 
terness; his  friends  fugitives;  his  enemies  scof- 
fers ;  gall  offered  him ;  and  in  that  hour  of  his 
extremity,  the  presence  of  the  Father,  that  sup- 

(1)  Heb.  x.  9.        (2)  Luke,  ii.  9.        (3)  Luke,  ix.  58. 


98  CHRIST  DIED  FOR  US  :    HIS  DEATH 

fiort  of  martyrs  and  of  confessors,  withdrawn, 
t  were  love  for  a  friend  to  die  for  a  friend ; 
greater  love  to  die  for  a  stranger;  love  still  more 
exalted  to  die  for  an  enemy  ;  but  love  beyond 
description  to  die  for  an  enemy,  doomed  through 
that  enmity  to  die ;  yet  of  this  nature  was  the 
love  of  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  though  love  far 
more  exalted  than  could  possibly  be  manifested 
by  one  mere  human  being  dying  for  another. 

How  many  were  those  sins  for  which  he  died  ! 
how  ruinous !  how  aggravated  !  how  multiplied  ! 
On  him  they  met ;  he  bears  the  whole  load.  He 
tasted  death  for  us :  when  all  were  dead  "  one 
died  for  all."1  He  came  "that  he  by  the  grace 
of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man."2  He 
died  for  the  sins  of  others ;  he  had  none  of  his 
own.  He  must  die,  or  they  must  die  eternally  ; 
and  then  he  died  to  bring  them  near  to  God. 
"Christ  died  for  the  ungodly:"3  "died  for  our 
sins  :"4  "  died  for  us  :"5  he  "  gave  himself  for  our 
sins,  that  he  might  deliver  us  from  this  present 
evil  world  :"*  he  is  "  our  great  God  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  himself  for  us  that  he 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,"7  and  "suf- 
fered for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he 
might  bring  us  to  God."* 

10.  As  his  sufferings  and  their  design  were 
expressly  foretold  by  prophets,9  so  they  appear 
to  have  been  strikingly  referred  to  in  some  of  the 
dispensations  of  Moses.  The  passover  furnishes 
an  impressive  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the  Sa- 
viour's sacrifice.   The  destroying  angel  was  "about 

(1)  2  Cor.  v.  14.     (2)Heb.  ii.  9.     (3)  Rom.  v.  fr.     (4)  2  Cor.  xv.  3. 

(5)  1  Thess.  v.  10.    (6)  Gal.  i.  4.    (7)  Tit.  ii.  14.    (8)  1  Pet.  iii.  18. 

(9)  David,  Isaiah,  Dan  el,  &c. 


FORETOLD  BY  PROPHECIES  AND  TYPES.    99 

to  proceed  through  the  land  of  Egypt,  spreading 
death  and  desolation.  The  paschal  lamb  was 
then  slain,  and  its  blood  sprinkled  on  the  Israel- 
itish  dwellings  ;  and  it  was  declared,  the  Lord 
himself  would  protect  the  inhabitants  of  the 
blood-besprinkled  house  from  the  destroyer.1 
Thus  the  Father  justifies  and  protects  the  soul 
that  flees  for  refuge  to  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the 
Son.  The  two  goats  on  the  great  day  of  atone- 
ment, appear  to  have  pointed  to  the  same  sacri- 
fice. One  of  them  was  slain,  and  his  blood  taken 
within  the  vail,  to  represent  the  Saviour's  atoning 
sacrifice.  Over  the  head  of  the  other  the  high- 
priest  confessed  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  sent 
him  away  into  a  land  not  inhabited,  to  represent 
that  thus  the  Saviour  takes  all  sin  away.  View- 
ing him,  the  Christian  sings, 

"  My  faith  would  lay  her  hand 

On  that  dear  head  of  thine, 
While,  like  a  penitent,  I  stand, 

And  there  confess  my  sin. 
My  soul  looks  back,  to  see 

The  burdens  thou  didst  bear 
When  hanging  on  the  cursed  tree, 

And  hopes  her  guilt  was  there." 

A  propitiatory  sacrifice  was  called2  kcpher, 
that  which  covers  or  hides ;  for  when  the  victim 
was  offered,  the  fault,  on  account  of  which  the 
offerer  presented  the  sacrifice,  was  passed  over.3 
Hence,  the  victim  might  be  said  to  hide  or  cover 
the  sin;  to  cleanse  the  offerer  from  it.  Thus 
Christ  offered  himself  as  a  sacrifice.  He  "was 
once  offered    to   bear  the  sins  of  many;"    he 

0)  Exod.  xii.  &c.  (2)  Exod.  xxix.  33.     Dan.  ix.  9.  &c. 

(3)  See  ti.is  repeatedly  deckjed,  Ledticus,  Chapters  4  and  o. 


100  CHRIST'S  DEATH  CLEANSES  FROM  ALL  SIN. 

"  appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of 
himself."1 

11.  Through  his  sufferings  sin  is  forgiven.  In 
those  ancient  offerings  there  was  no  real  virtue. 
The  divine  word  declares,  that  it  is  not  possible 
the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away 
sin.2  But  of  his  sacrifice  it  is  said,  that  he  "  by 
himself  purged  our  sins  ;"3  that  "  by  one  offering 
he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sancti- 
fied ;"4  that  believers  are  "justified  by  his 
blood  ;"5  and  that  "'  his  blood  cleanseth  them 
from  all  sin/'6  Such  is  the  atoning  efficacy  of 
his  sacrifice.  His  blood  cleanses  from  sin  ;  from 
sin  of  all  kinds;  and  in  all  cases  where  the  soul 
is  led  to  him.  Precious  as  are  his  instructions, 
it  is  not  these  which  are  described  as  purifying 
the  soul  from  sin ;  but  his  blood.  Salutary  as 
are  his  heavenly  lessons,  it  is  not  these  that  heal 
the  sinner's  wounds;  but  by  '*  his  stripes  we  are 
healed."7  Thus  by  dying  he  conquered  death. 
By  poverty  he  secured  for  millions  immortal 
wealth.  By  sufferings  purchased  for  millions 
unfading  happiness.  Thus  he  obtained  for  man 
eternal  redemption.  In  vain  had  the  loftiest  of 
the  angelic  host  tried  to  accomplish  such  a  tri- 
umph. It  could  be  effected  by  him  only  who 
was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  He  came  down 
from  heaven,  and  obtained  eternal  redemption  ; 
then  re-entered  heaven,  like  a  mighty  conqueror, 
and  lives  to  bestow  the  salvation  he  wrought  out. 
When  he  came  to  earth  the  world  was  perishing  ; 
but  when  he  returned  the  work  of  infinite  mercy 
was  accomplished  ;  and  redemption  was  secured 

(1)  Heb.  ix.  28.  26.  &c.  (2)  Heb.  x.  4.  (3)  Heb.  i.  3. 

(4)Heb.x.  14.    (5)  Rom.  v.  9.    (6)  Uohn,  i.  7.    (7)  Is.  liii.  5> 


THE  SAVIOUR  WORTHY  TO  BE  WELCOMED.    101 

for  all  that  will  ever  listen  to  the  invitations  of  his 
love. 

12.  This  salvation,  which  is  so  unutterably 
valuable,  which  was  secured  at  so  expensive  a 
price,  and  which  displays  such  incomprehensible 
love,  is  the  salvation  which  you  want,  and  which 
in  the  gospel  is  offered  to  you.  Regard  the  an- 
gelic message  as  a  message  to  yourself — unto 
you  was  born  a  Saviour  Christ  the  Lord.  You 
cannot  save  yourself;  nor  blot  out  your,  own  sins  ; 
nor  change  your  own  heart;  nor  write  your  own 
name  in  heaven;  nor  snatch  your  soul  from  the 
pit  of  woe,  nor  raise  it  to  eternal  bliss.  But  here 
is  a  Saviour  for  you,  who  has  come  to  do  all  this. 
Were  you  in  prison,  how  welcome  would  be  li- 
berty !  Were  you  in  slavery,  how  welcome  would 
be  a  deliverer !  And  how  welcome  should  a 
Saviour  be  !  A  Saviour  from  the  load  of  sin ; 
and  from  the  reign  of  iniquity;  and  from  re- 
morse of  conscience  ;  and  from  the  wrath  of  God, 
and  from  the  damnation  of  hell.  How  welcome 
should  that  Saviour  be!  A  Saviour,  whose 
love  flows,  as  it  were,  in  streams  of  blood  divine  ; 
and  who  confers  mercy  most  valuable  and  most 
complete.  An  earthly  sovereign,  perhaps,  spares 
the  forfeited  life  of  a  condemned  criminal;  but 
the  criminal  becomes  an  exile,  and  wears  out  life 
in  banishment  from  his  country  and  his  home. 
But  this  Saviour,  when  he  forgives,  forgives  en- 
tirely; and  takes  the  pardoned  criminal,  and 
makes  him  a  child.  He  gives  to  the  pardoned 
eouI  present  peace,  and  the  love  of  God  and  the 
glory  of  eternity. 

13.  Were  you  informed  of  a  Saviour,  but  had 
tause  to  doubt  whether  he  could  save  you  to  the 

K 


102  THE  LORD  JESUS  AN  ALMIGHTY 

uttermost,  the  tidings  would  not  be  so  gladsome. 
But  this  Saviour  is  an  Almighty  Saviour;  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  He  is  equal  to  the  task 
he  undertakes:  he  came  to  conquer  death  and 
Satan  ;  to  open  heaven  and  people  it  from  earth  ; 
and  he  will  do  what  he  has  undertaken  to  per- 
form. He  gives  promises  that  none  but  a  God 
could  give,  and  will  fulfil  every  promise.  On  him 
have  millions  leaned.,  and  he  has  never  failed  one 
that  trusted  in  him.  His  love  was  so  vast  that 
it  brought  him  down  from  heaven;  and  his 
power  is  so  great  that  it  raises  myriads  there. 
His  works  on  earth  manifested  his  power:  when 
the  dumb  spake;  when  the  deaf  heard;  when 
the  blind  eye  saw  ;  when  tempests  listened  to  his 
bidding;  when  diseases  fled  at  his  command; 
and  death  resigned  his  prey :  then  was  his  uncon- 
trollable power  displayed.  His  miracles  of  pow- 
er were  emblems  of  mightier  miracles  of  grace 
and  love:  he  has  opened  hearts  more  blind  than 
the  blindest  eyes;  and  taught  tongues,  more 
silent  than  the  dumb,  to  speak  his  Father's 
praise.  There  are  no  sins  so  many  and  so  vile, 
that  he  cannot  blot  them  out;  no  hearts  so  hard 
that  he  cannot  soften  them ;  none  so  unworthy 
that  he  cannot  welcome  them ;  and  none  so  weak 
that  he  cannot  help  them  to  heaven.  Are  not 
the  tidings  of  such  a  Saviour  good  tidings  of 
great  joy  ? 

14.  Were  you  told  of  an  almighty  Saviour, 
but  had  cause  to  doubt  his  compassion  and  grace, 
the  tidings  would  not  be  so  full  of  unmingled 
joy.  But  this  Saviour  "can  have  compassion," 
and  is  full  of  love.  Go  to  his  manger ;  what 
laid  him  there  but  love  ?     Go  to  the  garden  of 


AND  ALL-COMPASSIONATE  SAVIOUR.  103 

Gethsemane;  what  caused  him  to  endure  its 
agonies  and  bloody  sweat,  but  love  ?  Go  to 
Calvary ;  what  made  him  bear  his  cross  and  die 
upon  it,  but  love  ?  Hearken  to  his  promises  * 
"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.1  Him 
that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."* 
What  speak  these  but  love  ?  Again,  hearken  : 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  heareth 
my  word,  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me, 
hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into 
condemnation ;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
life."3  What  speak  these  sweet  words  of  eternal 
life,  but  love?  Go  to  facts  in  his  conduct:  be- 
hold the  penitent  woman  weeping  at  his  feet ; 
the  pharisees  reprove  him  for  his  notice  of  her ; 
but  he  says,  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven;  thy  faith 
hath  saved  thee;  go  in  peace."*  What  spoke 
that  language,  but  love  ?  See  Canaan's  widow  ; 
she  entreats  his  aid  for  her  afflicted  daughter ; 
he  seems  to  turn  a  deaf  ear,  but  it  is  that  her 
faith  may  shine  more  conspicuous;  and  at  length 
he  says,  M  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith  :  be  it  unto 
thee  even  as  thou  wilt."5  What  spoke  those 
words,  but  love  ?  O  reader,  as  there  are  no  sins 
so  vile  that  he  cannot  blot  them  out ;  so  there  are 
none  so  vile  and  aggravated,  that  he  is  unwilling 
to  take  their  load  away.  As  there  is  no  heart 
too  hard  for  him  to  soften;  so  there  is  none  so 
hard,  that,  when  his  help  is  sought,  he  is  unwill- 
ing to  bestow  it.  As  there  are  none  so  unworthy 
that  he  cannot  help  them  ;  so  there  are  none  that 
he  is  unwilling  to  help.     And  as  there  are  none 

(1)  Matt  xi.  28.        (2)  John,  vi.  37.        (3)  John,  v.  24. 
(4)  Luke,  vii .  48—50.  (5)  Matt.  xv.  28, 


104  THE  READER  INVITED  TO  CHRIST. 

so  weak  that  his  strength  is  not  sufficient  foi 
them ;  so  there  are  none  so  weak  but  he  is  will- 
ing to  help  them  to  death  and  to  heaven. 

15.  And,  reader,  all  these  tidings  are  for  you. 
If  he  were  all  that  has  been  described,  but  had 
no  blessings  for  you,  his  power,  his  grace,  his 
love  would  be  nothing  to  you.  But  all  these 
tidings  are  for  you,  if  you  will  listen  to  the  voice 
of  his  mercy.  Whosoever  will  may  **  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."1  The  provision  that  is  so 
ample,  and  so  suited  to  your  wants,  is  provided 
for  you.  Are  you  poor?  in  him  are  riches.  Are 
you  wretched?  in  him  is  happiness.  Guilty? 
with  him  is  pardon.  Destitute  and  friendless  ? 
with  him  is  endless  good.  Are  you  dying  ?  in 
him  is  life.  Through  his  poverty  you  may  be 
rich.  His  life  was  given  for  your  life.  Would 
you  be  a  slave  for  a  slave  ?  or  impoverished  for  a 
beggar?  or  condemned  for  a  criminal?  yet  the 
Son  of  God  has  done  this  for  you.  What  you 
desire,  if  you  are  a  penitent,  the  Saviour  is  will- 
ing to  give.  You  have  sinned,  but  he  has  suffered. 
You  are  unworthy,  but  God  will  accept  you  in 
the  beloved.  An  ancient  Christian  writer  remarks, 
"What  could  cover  our  sins  but  his  righteous- 
ness ?  By  whom  could  we,  who  were  wicked 
and  ungodly,  be  justified  but  by  the  only  Son  of 
God  ?  O  delightful  exchange  !  O  unsearchable 
contrivance !  O  unexpected  benefit !  that  the 
iniquity  of  many  should  be  hid  by  one  righteous 
person,  and  the  righteousness  of  one  justify  many 
wicked  !" 

16.  If  you  are  a  humble  penitent  believer,  the 

(I)  Rev.  xxii.  17. 


YERSES.  105 

simple  and  plaintive  language  of  one  who  is  now 
a  saint  in  light,  may  express  your  feelings : 

"  In  that  day,  O  grant  I  may 
Find  mercy,  Lord,  with  thee  ! 
Thro'  him  who  kept  thy  holy  law, 
Without  a  blemish  or  a  flaw, 
Then  died  upon  the  tree. 

"Full  of  sin  and  guilt  within, 
No  worthiness  I  plead  ; 
If  thou  iniquity  shouldst  mark, 
Dismal  my  prospect  were  and  dark, 
Hopeless  my  case  indeed. 

*  Merit  none  I  call  my  own, 
But  my  demerits  vast  ; 
Think  of  the  merits  of  thy  Son, 
What  he  has  sufTer'd,  he  has  done, 
And  I  am  sav'd  at  last. 

<l  Vile  I  am,  but  that  blest  Lamb 
His  precious  blood  has  spilt  ; 
That  blood,  thou  hast  been  pleas'd  to  say, 
Can  wash  the  vilest  stains  away, 
And  cancel  all  my  guilt. 

"  On  Him  I  humbly  jely, 
All  other  help  abjure  ; 
Jesus,  to  thee  alone  I  flee, 
This  hope  shall  like  an  anchor  be, 
For  ever  firm  and  sure." 


17.  While  the  careless  presume,  the  pcniten1 
often  despond  ;  and  that  great  enemy,  who  tempts 
the  former  to  disbelieve  God's  threatenings,  tempts 
the  latter  to  doubt  his  promises.  If,  with  a  hum- 
ble and  contrite  heart  fleeing  from  your  sins,  you 
are  seeking  pardoning  grace,  be  assured,  on  the 
authority  of  all  that  is  true  and  solemn  in  the 
gospel,  that  vou  will  not  seek  in  vain.  The  Sa- 
k3 


106  THE  DESPONDING  PENITENT 

viour  says,  "  This  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me, 
that  every  one  which  seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth 
on  him,  may  have  everlasting  life :  and  I  will 
raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."1 

Thus  he  declares  it  to  be  his  Father's  will,  that 
he  should  save  every  one,  however  lost  or  guilty, 
that  sees  his  excellency,  and  believes  on  him  for 
salvation.  To  this  he  adds  his  own  most  gracious 
promise :  "  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out."2  Can  words  be  more  compre- 
hensive or  more  expressive  ?  Were  the  divine 
Saviour  to  say,  "Form  such  a  promise  as  will 
most  effectually  encourage  your  soul.  Tell  me 
what  it  is,  and  I  will  bind  myself  to  accomplish 
all  it  expresses;"  would  it  be  possible  to  form 
promises  more  encouraging,  than  that  thus  given, 
and  others  to  which  reference  has  been  made  ? 
"  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out  ?"  No  sins,  however  great,  no  guilt,  how- 
ever aggravated,  shall  prevent  the  penitent's  sal- 
vation that  comes  to  me.  Not  the  continuance 
of  transgression  that  has  been  prolonged  through 
many  rebellious  years,  shall  keep  the  soul  from 
pardon  which  comes  to  me.  No  meanness  and 
insignificance  shall  cause  me  to  slight  the  peni- 
tent that  seeks  salvation  at  my  hands.  No  pre- 
sent unworthiness  and  lamented  defects,  if  he 
come  to  me,  shall  cause  me  to  cast  him  out.  No 
want  of  ability  to  make  a  suitable  return,  shall 
prevent  my  exercising  my  pardoning  mercy. 
"  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out."  Elsewhere  it  is  declared,  "  He  is  able  also 
to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto 
God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  inter- 

(1)  John,  vi.  30.  (2)  John,  vi.  37. 


ENCOURAGED.  107 

cession  for  them."1  Thus  you  are  assured,  that 
he  can  save  from  the  heaviest  load  of  sin  ;  for  he 
can  save  to  the  uttermost.  He  can  save  from  the 
greatest  extremity  of  danger ;  for  he  can  save  to 
the  uttermost.  He  can  save  amidst  all  the  as- 
saults or  trials  of  time,  and  save  with  a  salvation 
that  shall  extend  through  eternity ;  for  he  can 
save  to  the  uttermost.  He  ever  lives  to  save. 
His  saving  power  continues  from  age  to  age, 
unimpaired  by  the  flight  of  time;  unweakened 
by  the  ingratitude  with  which  millions  neglect 
his  great  salvation.  So  earnest  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  save,  that  he  compares  himself  to  a  person 
standing  and  knocking  at  a  door,  and  seeking 
admittance,  that  he  may  benefit  every  one  who 
opens  to  him.2  So  earnest  is  he  to  save,  that  he 
has  commissioned  his  servants  to  say,  "Now  then 
we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God 
did  beseech  you  by  us  :  we  pray  you  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God/'3 

In  other  cases  the  poor  beg  of  the  rich  ;  here 
he,  who  is  possessed  of  infinite  riches,  begs  the 
poor  to  be  enriched  by  him.  Subjects  beg  the 
favour  of  kings ;  but  here  the  King  of  kings  be- 
seeches a  rebellious  worm  to  accept  his  favour. 
Criminals  implore  their  judge's  mercy  ;  but  here 
the  Judge  beseeches  the  condemned  criminal  to 
receive  the  mercy  he  delights  to  bestow.  And 
can  he,  who  condescends  so  much  to  benefit  lost 
mankind,  be  unwilling  to  save  a  suppliant  seek- 
ing mercy  at  his  feet ! 

18.  Perhaps  you  say,  "  I  have  wasted  many 
years.  They  have  all  been  marked  with  careless- 
ness and  sin.     I  have  abused  many  mercies,  and 

(1)  Heb.  Tii.  25.  (2)  Rev.  iii.  20.         (3)  2  Cor.  t.  20. 


108  ENCOURAGEMENT  r 

grieved  the  Spirit  of  God  by  long-continued  neg- 
lect/' Allow  it  to  be  so ;  and  if  it  is,  yon  cannot 
be  too  deeply  humbled  for  such  aggravated 
transgressions ;  yet  the  Saviour  says,  "  Him  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ;"  and  of 
him  it  still  is  said,  u  He  is  able  to  save  them  to 
the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  by  him." 

Perhaps  you  urge,  "My  sins  are  great  and 
many."  So  were  Israel's,  yet  God  said  to  them, 
"Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  un- 
righteous man  his  thoughts ;  and  let  him  return 
unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon 
him ;  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly 
pardon."1  So  were  Paul's:  he  persecuted  the 
church  of  God,  yet  he  obtained  mercy,  and  de- 
clared, "  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of 
all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners;  of  whom  I  am  chief. 
Howbeit  for  this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that  in 
me  first  Jesus  Christ  might  show  forth  all  long- 
suffering,  for  a  pattern  to  them  which  should 
hereafter  believe  on  him  to  life  everlasting."2  So 
were  those  of  many  that  became  members  of  the 
Corinthian  church.  To  them  it  was  said,  "  Know 
ye  not  that  the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God  ?  Be  not  deceived  :  neither 
fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  ef- 
feminate, nor  abusers  of  themselves  with  man- 
kind, nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards, 
nor  revilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God.  And  such  were  some  of  you;" 
yet  vile  as  they  had  thus  been,  through  heavenly 
grace  it  was  added,  "  but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye 

(1)  Is.  It.  7  (2)  1  Tim.  i.  15, 16. 


FOR  THE  DESPONDING.  109 

are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God."1 

Your  sins  are  great,  but  they  are  not  greater 
than  God's  mercy.  "For  as  heaven  is  high 
above  the  earth,  so  great  is  his  mercy  toward 
them  that  fear  him.  As  far  as  the  east  is  from 
the  west,  so  far  hath  he  removed  our  transgres- 
sions from  us.,r2  Your  sins  are  great ;  their  vile 
ness  cannot  be  expressed,  yet  their  vileness  can- 
not  exceed  the  infinite  value  of  the  Saviour's 
atoning  blood.  "It  cleanseth  from  all  sin."3 
"Where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more 
abound."4 

Your  sins  are  great ;  but  the  longer  you  wait 
the  greater  they  will  be.  Every  day  in  which 
you  delay  to  trust  yourself  and  your  all  to 
Christ,  adds  to  the  number  of  your  transgressions. 
He  is  a  great  forgiver.  Whatever  you  are,  flee  to 
Him.  Are  you  young  or  aged,  poor  or  rich,  go  to 
Christ.  Have  you  been  moral  or  profligate,  go 
to  him.  If  you  have  been  a  swearer,  and  a 
drunkard,  break  off  your  sins,  and  flee  to  him. 
If  you  have  been  the  most  moral  of  mankind, 
you  still  need  him,  or  must  die.  When  Joseph 
fed  the  famishing  inhabitants  of  Hgypt,  the 
general  direction  for  all  that  needed  food,  was, 
"  Go  to  Joseph  ;"  and  for  all  that  feel  themselves 
undone, the  direction  is,  "Go  to  Christ."  In  his 
mercy  there  are  heights,  and  depths,  and 
lengths,  and  breadths,  equal  to  all  your  wants. 
There  are  depths  that  will  reach  low  as  the 
depths  of  your  guilt  and  danger,  and  reach,  and 
save   you   from  the   ed^e   of  hell.     There   are 

(1)  1  Cor.  vi.9— 11.     (2)  Psalm,  ciii.  11,  12.     (3)  1  John,  i.  7. 
(4)  Rom.  v.  20. 


110  SALVATION  FREE 

heights  that  will  advance  you  to  unknown 
holiness  and  happiness,  in  the  heavenly  world. 
There  are  breadths  that  will  cover  all  your  guilt ; 
and  lengths  that  will  flow  on  through  the  scenes 
of  time,  attend  the  soul  to  death  and  judgment, 
and  then  bless  a  whole  eternity.  And  all  this 
is  ready  to  bless  you.  You  may  think  with 
ecstacy,  "  I  have  not  to  obtain  redemption  by  my 
feeble  efforts.  It  is  already  obtained.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  gained  it  for  me.  The  work 
is  already  done.  His  blood  can  take  away  my 
sins.  His  righteousness  can  clothe  my  soul, 
and  supply  my  want  of  righteousness.  And, 
though  separate  from  him  I  am  nothing,  and 
have  nothing,  yet  in  him  is  all  I  want." 

19.  All  this  good,  and  all  the  blessings  of  the 
Saviour's  grace,  you  may  have  freely  and  fully. 
All  the  fitness  requisite,  is  to  feel  your  need  of 
him,  and  be  cordially  willing  to  receive  him, 
as  he  is  set  before  you  in  the  gospel.  You 
want  no  previous  preparation  to  render  you  less 
unworthy  of  pardoning  mercy,  but  may  come  to 
the  Saviour  guilty  and  lost  as  you  are.  This  is 
abundantly  evident  from  his  word.  Consider 
the  parable  of  the  prodigal;1  he  went  to  his 
Father  in  wretchedness  and  misery,  but  at  once 
experienced  pardoning  mercy.  Look  at  the  his- 
tory of  the  publican.2  When  he  prayed,  "  God, 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner!"  it  was  with  that 
oppressive  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness,  that  he 
would  not  so  much  as  lift  up  his  eyes  unto  hea- 
ven; but  he  went  down  to  his  house  justified. 
Think  of  the  case  of  the  multitudes  whose  con- 
version is  recorded  in  the  second  chapter  of  the 

(1)  Luke,  xv.  (2;  Luke,  xviii. 


FOR  THE  MOST  UNWORTHY.  1  1 1 

Acts  of  the  Apostles.  They  are  charged  with 
even  the  monstrous  guilt  of  having  taken  and  by 
wicked  hands  crucified  and  slain  "the  Lord  of 
glory  :"  but  when  they,  pierced  to  the  heart,  in- 
quire what  they  must  do  to  be  saved,  at  once  they 
are  directed  to  the  Saviour;  and  the  same  day 
which  saw  them  broken-hearted  penitents,  beheld 
them  rejoicing  disciples.  Consider  the  history 
of  the  gaoler.1  He  was  a  heathen  and  a  perse- 
cutor. He  was  this  over  night.  During  the 
night  not  only  were  his  slumbers  dissipated  by 
the  earthquake,  that  shook  the  prison,  but  his 
soul  was  filled  with  alarm,  from  a  sense  of  the 
danger  of  his  state.  With  trembling  and  anxiety 
he  inquires,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  P" 
He  is  answered,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  He  welcomes 
the  tidings ;  and  he  who  in  the  evening  was  a 
heathen  and  a  persecutor,  and  in  the  night  a 
trembling  penitent,  before  the  morning  dawns 
has  received  the  gospel  message,  and  rejoices  in 
the  Lord  as  his  salvation.  In  all  these  cases 
there  were  no  preparatives  requisite,  but  a  feeling 
of  their  want  and  guilt,  and  willingness  to  wel- 
come the  proffered  mercy,  by  receiving  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  their  Saviour  and  their  Lord.  Just  as 
free  is  salvation  to  you  ;  and  to  be  enjoyed  in  the 
same  way  by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  a 
faith  which  humbly  relies  upon  him,  and  includes 
the  surrender  of  soul  and  body  to  him. 

Conformably  with  these  views  the  Lord  Jesus 
is  described  as  saving,  and  the  Father  as  justify- 
ing, not  the  righteous,  not  the  worthy,  but  the 
ungodly.      "They  that  are  whole  need  not   a 

(1)  Acts,  stI. 


1 12  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST  MUST  BE 

physician,  but  they  that  are  sick.  I  came  not  to 
call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to  repentance."1 
"  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost."2  "All  have  sinned,  and 
come  short  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  being  justified 
freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption  that 
is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Therefore  we  conclude,  that 
a  man  is  justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of 
the  law.  To  him  that  worketh  not,  butbelieveth 
on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is 
counted  for  righteousness."8  "When  we  were 
enemies  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death 
of  his  Son."4 

20.  The  death  of  Christ  cannot  be  to  you  a 
matter  of  no  concern.  It  will  prove  either  a 
blessing  or  a  curse.  He  died  to  reconcile  you 
to  God.  If  you  slight  him,  you  will  be  banished 
further  from  God,  than  if  he  had  never  died.  He 
died  to  deliver  you  from  guilt  and  remorse,  to 
save  you  from  hell,  and  raise  you  to  heaven.  If 
you  slight  him,  your  guilt  will  be  increased  many 
fold ;  your  remorse  will  be  more  tormenting ; 
heaven  will  be  for  ever  shut  against  you ;  and 
you  will  sink  in  the  depths  of  a  deeper  hell.  But 
if  you  welcome  him,  in  him  you  will  be  com- 
pletely saved,  completely  blest.  You  will  know 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  your  all  in  all ;  and 
while  a  growing  acquaintance  with  yourself  may 
lead  you  to  adopt  the  words  of  a  dying  saint, 
"God  may  justly  condemn  me  for  the  best  duty 
I  ever  did,"  in  him  you  will  have  peace.  You 
may  then  with  the  happy  a-postle  exclaim,  "  I 
know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded 

(l)  Matt.  ix.  12.    (2)  Luke,  xix.  10.    (3)  Rom.  iii.  23. 24,  28.    iv.  5. 
(4)  Rom.  v.  10. 


A  BLESSING  OR  A  CURSE.  113 

that  he  will  keep  what  I  have  committed  unto 
him  against  that  day.1"  Yes,  he  will*keep  the 
invaluable  treasure  I  have  trusted  to  his  hands. 
T  expect  temptations;  I  expect  to  meet  the  so- 
lemnities of  a  dying  hour — but  amidst  all  he  will 
keep  what  I  have  committed  to  him.  I  expect 
to  meet  him  at  the  judgment  day  ;  to  look  upon 
a  dissolving  world  ;  to  see  the  earth  burning,  the 
heavens  vanishing  away ;  to  behold  the  Judge 
upon  his  fiery  throne,  and  the  universe  gathered 
before  him — yet  amidst  all  these  scenes  of  so- 
lemnity, he  will  keep  what  I  have  committed 
unto  him. 

If  you  have  become  the  humble  disciple  of  the 
Saviour,  all  this  invaluable  good  he  will  effect  for 
you.  Still  daily  cleave  to  him,  and  let  him  be 
your  all  in  all.  Manna  was  to  Israel,  for  a  time, 
their  only  food  ;  so  Christ  must  be  to  you  the 
only  bread  of  life.  Here  rest — he  gave  himself 
for  me.  Is  it  inquired,  What  plea  have  you  to 
ward  off  condemnation  ?  The  Lord  Jesus  has 
died.  Why  are  you  forgiven  ?  Because  the  Lord 
Jesus  has  died.  Why  do  you  hope  for  mercy? 
The  Lord  Jesus  has  died.  Why  do  you  expect 
heaven  ?  The  Lord  Jesus  has  died,  and  I  have 
fled  to  him.  No  works  of  righteousness  have  we 
to  atone  for  guilt  that  is  passed,  but  the  Lord 
Jesus  has  died.  No  merits  nave  we  in  present 
obedience,  to  deserve  divine  blessings  for  the 
future,  but  the  Lord  Jesus  has  died,  has  obeyed 
and  suffered  in  our  place.  No  offerings  have  we 
wherewith  to  come  before  the  Lord,  and  to  bow 
ourselves  before  the  high  God,  none  to  present 
that  will  deserve  his  notice,  but  the  Lord  Jesus 

(1)2  Tim.  i.  12. 
L 


114  HYMN. 

has  died.  Here  Christian  hope  begins,  here 
rests,  here  ends — the  Lord  Jesus  has  died.  Re- 
gard 

"This  first,  this  last,  this  midst,  and  without  end." 

21.  A  hymn  by  the  late  Mr.  Newton  expresses 
with  peculiar  felicity  the  Christian's  feelings  and 
hopes : 

*'  One  glance  of  thine,  eternal  Lord, 
Pierces  all  nature  through; 
And  all  the  thoughts  of  ev'ry  heart 
Are  open  to  thy  view  ! 

"  Though  greatly  from  my  soul  conceal'd, 
Thou  seest  my  inward  frame  : 
To  thee  I  always  stand  reveal'd 
Exactly  as  I  am  ! 

"Since,  therefore,  I  can  hardly  bear 
What  in  myself  I  see  ; 
How  vile,  how  black,  must  I  appear, 
Most  holy  God,  to  thee! 

"  But  O  !  my  Saviour  stands  between, 
In  garments  dy'd  in  blood  ! 
'Tis  he,  instead  of  me,  is  seen, 
When  I  approach  to  God. 

"  Thus,  though  a  sinner,  I  am  safe  : 

He  pleads  before  the  throne 

His  life,  his  death,  in  my  behalf, 

And  counts  my  sins  his  own. 

"  What  wondrous  love,  what  mystery, 
In  this  appointment  shine! 
My  sins  he  takes,  and  gives  to  me 
His  righteousness  divine !" 

22.  There  are  some  so  exceedingly  wicked  as 
to  pervert  trre  truths  exhibited  in  this  chapter,  to 
their  own  deeper  condemnation.    Because  the 


SIN  OF  ABUSING  THE  DOCTRINES  OF  GRACE,    llf 

foundation  of  a  sinner's  hope  is  a  crucified  Sa- 
viour and  salvation  is  the  free  gift  of  God,  they 
make  this  grace  an  occasion  for  sin ;  and  are  care- 
less of  the  very  holiness  in  which  this  wonderful 
grace  should  render  them  daily  anxious  to  excel. 
If  you  are  ever  tempted  to  indulge  such  a  spirit, 
consider  that  it  is  the  vilest,  the  most  ungrateful, 
the  most  infernal,  that  exists  out  of  the  pit  of 
perdition.  "  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord."  The  principle  that  denies  the  neces- 
sity of  Christian  holiness,  is  one  of  the  worst  of 
heresies;  and  the  individual  who  vaunts  his 
prospects  of  heaven,  and  his  confidence  in  Christ, 
while  he  turns  the  grace  of  God  into  licentious- 
ness, and  lives  the  slave  of  sin,  appears,  perhaps 
more  completely  than  any  other  human  being, 
the  dupe  and  the  image  of  the  wicked  one. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RELIGION  URGED  BY  CONSIDERATIONS  CONNECTED 
WITH  THE  GOODNESS  AND  CLAIMS  OF  THE  ETER- 
NAL GOD,  AND  WITH  THE  GUILT  AND  EVILS  OF 
NEGLECTING  THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 

1.  In  several  former  chapters  the  design  has 
been,  to  represent  to  you  the  nature  of  religion ; 
to  show  you,  from  a  scriptural  view  of  your  own 
state,  how  needful  its  blessings  are  to  you ;  and, 
by  exhibiting  the  Saviour's  grace,  to  present  the 
encouragements  that  exist  for  seeking  this  great 
salvation.  And  now,  reader,  as  addressing  you 
on  a  matter  of  life  or  death,  of  life  or  death 
eternal,  I  beg  your  attention,  while,  some  of  those 


116    THE  CHOICE  OF  RELIGION  MOST  IMPORTANT.   ] 

solemn  motives,  which  should  engage  your  heart 
to  the  Saviour  and  religion,  are  plainly  set  before 
you.  If  you  have  already  happily  felt  their 
power,  it  may  revive  past  salutary  impressions 
to  review  them  again.  But  if  you  have  not,  if 
you  are  to  the  present  moment  a  trifler  with  God 
and  your  own  soul,  then,  by  all  that  is  dear  to  you, 
be  entreated  to  read  seriously,  and  to  consider 
attentively,  the  solemn  reasons  that  should  urge 
true  piety,  as  the  one  thing  needful,  on  your 
immediate  choice.  This  is  the  most  important 
choice  that  can  ever  demand  your  attention.  It 
concerns  you  now,  as  to  the  state  in  which  you 
must  pass  the  remainder  of  your  days,  whether 
in  guilt  or  piety,  in  safety  or  in  danger ;  it  will 
concern  you  in  death,  as  to  possessing  comfort, 
or  sinking  in  distress ;  it  will  concern  you  when 
entering  eternity  ;  and  will  eternally  make  a  dis- 
tinction in  your  condition,  as  blest  and  saved,  or 
lost  and  accursed.  The  blessings  of  the  present 
world  you  need  but  for  a  span  of  time ;  but  the 
blessings  of  religion  for  all  eternity.  These  bless- 
ings are  needful  for  both  worlds.  In  the  pos- 
session of  divine  grace,  you  might  be  happy 
though  destitute  of  earthly  good.  So  was  Laza- 
rus, when  lying,  though  in  the  depths  of  poverty, 
at  the  very  gate  of  heaven.  But  if  destitute  of 
religion,  you  can  have  no  happiness  hereafter, 
nor  be  truly  happy  here.  Other  things  will  not 
supply  the  want  of  this ;  but,  as  to  what  is  most 
important,  this  would  supply  the  want  of  all 
things.  The  soul  that  enjoys  the  Saviour's  fa- 
vour, belongs  to  the  same  family  as  the  angels  of 
light;  and  soon  will  be  as  blessed  and  as  happy 
as  thev. 


THE  CLAIMS  OF  GOD.  117 

"  A  Christian  and  an  angel ;   these  between 
How  thin  the  barrier  !     What  divides  their  state  ? 
Perhaps  a  moment,  or  perhaps  a  year, 
Or  if  an  age  it  is  a  moment  still, 
A  moment  or  eternity's  forgot." 

2.  Consider  to  whom  you  are  entreated  to 
surrender  yourself.  To  no  mean  possessor,  no 
feeble  Lord,  no  unworthy  object  of  regard.  But 
to  God ;  the  great,  the  blessed,  the  eternal  God  ; 
to  the  God  that  made  you  ;  that  supports  you  ; 
that  sees  you  ;  that  pities  you  ;  that  blesses  you  ; 
that  would  save  you,  or  that  will  condemn  you. 
To  this  great,  and  blessed,  and  infinitely  holy 
Creator,  you  are  entreated  to  yield  yourself;  to 
the  God  that  will  smile  and  bless  you,  or  frown 
and  curse  you;  whose  love  will  make  endless 
ages  happy,  or  whose  anger  will  make  endless 
ages  miserable ;  whom  you  soon  must  meet,  and 
with  whom  ere  long  you  must  have  a  most  so- 
lemn interview.  He  is  the  God  whose  love  ren- 
ders saints  and  angels  happy.  He  was  the  God 
of  Abraham  ;  and  Abraham  has  long  been  with 
him.  He  was  the  God  of  Paul ;  and  Paul  wel- 
comed martyrdom.  The  God  of  martyrs ;  and 
they  longed  to  die,  that  they  might  go  to  be  with 
him.  He  was  the  God  of  believers  now  departed ; 
and  they  lived  in  hope  and  died  in  peace.  He 
is  the  God  of  many  that  now  sojourn  on  earth ; 
and  they  would  not  give  up  their  hope  in  him 
for  millions  of  worlds.  Shall  he  be  your  God? 
Why  will  you  not  give  him  your  heart?  Could 
you  enter  heaven,  and  behold  its  happy  inhabi- 
tants, could  you  then  ask  the  angel  hosts, 
"Whence  springs  your  happiness?"  the  answer 
might  be,  "  God  loves  us/'  Could  you  put  the 
l3 


J  18    BLESSEDNESS  OF  CONSECRATION  TO  GOD. 

same  question  to  the  sainted  spirits  of  the  just, 
the  same  might  be  the  reply,  "God  loves  us." 
And  could  you  inquire,  "  And  can  he  love  me  ?" 
the  answer  might  be,  "  He  can ;  such  is  his 
boundless  mercy  !  He  can,  he  will,  if  you  seek 
all  your  happiness  in  him  who  died  for  your 
transgressions ;  if  you  listen  to  the  voice  of  his 
mercy,  and  yield  yourself  to  God."  O  yield  to 
him,  and  then  he  will  love  even  you  with  an 
everlasting  love.  Then  he  will  love  you  with 
more  than  parental  affection  ;*  with  love  that  will 
lead  him  to  delight  in  bestowing  blessings  upon 
you.'2  And  is  it  not  reasonable  to  give  yourself 
to  this  blessed  God  ?  Has  he  not  a  claim  on 
you  superior  to  all  other  claimants  ?  Has  be  not 
a  right  to  you  ?  Is  it  not  a  base  withholding 
from  God  that  which  is  his  righteous  due,  and 
thus  a  wicked  robbery  of  God,  to  withhold  from 
him  yourself,  your  body,  and  your  soul?  Is  it 
unreasonable,  to  entreat  you  to  give  to  God  the 
life  he  gives  ?  the  affections  he  implants  ?  and  the 
powers  of  body  and  of  mind  which  he  has  be- 
stowed upon  you?  Can  you  venture  to  say, 
"It  is  not  reasonable  that  I  should  employ  in 
God's  service  the  life  he  prolongs,  the  time  he 
gives,  and  the  mercies  he  imparts.  It  is  ^more 
reasonable  I  should  employ  all  these  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Satan,  and  in  neglect  of  God,  than  in  his 
service."  If  self-interest  move  you,  your  own 
interest  is  concerned  in  surrendering  yourself  to 
God.  How  much  you  need  from  God  !  how 
little  from  the  world  !  ere  long  nothing  but  a  cof- 
fin and  a  grave !     How  long  you  will  need  bless- 

(1)  Isaiah,  xlix.  15.  (2)  Luke,  xii.  35. 


GUILT  OF  SLIGHTING  GOD'S  CLAIMS.  1 19 

ings  from  God  !  how  short  a  time  from  the 
world  !  then  yield  yourself  to  God. 

3.  If  you  are  unwilling  to  comply  with  this 
entreaty,  think  of  the  guilt  of  slighting  God,  and 
of  the  numberless  aggravations  of  such  guilt. 
If  you  were  to  give  food  and  clothing,  for  a  single 
month,  to  some  wretched  beggar,  would  you  not 
expect  him  to  cherish  gratitude  and  love?  but 
what  has  God  done  for  you  !  He  gave  you  life, 
and  would  have  you  spend  it  in  his  own  service ; 
and  will  you  not?  He  gives  you  mercies,  and 
would  have  you  love  the  Giver;  and  will  you 
not  ?  He  gave  his  Son  for  you,  to  redeem  you 
from  death  and  hell,  and  bids  you  come  to  him- 
self, by  this  divine  Saviour;  and  will  you  not  ? 
O  wicked  ingratitude!  O  miserable  sinner! 
What  insults  you  heap  on  God,  while  he  sees 
you  prefer  the  merest  trifles,  the  basest  pleasures, 
or  the  most  degrading  sins,  to  his  service  and 
himself!  Does  God  deserve  such  treatment 
from  you  ?  Better  slight  brother  or  sister,  hus- 
band or  wife,  parent  or  child,  than  merely  slight 
your  God.  That  neglect  were  vile,  but  this  is 
viler.  Of  that  neglect,  perhaps,  you  would  not 
be  guilty ;  but  in  this  have  been  living  all  your 
clays.  And,  perhaps,  because  not  openly  im- 
moral, fancying  that  your  heart  and  life  were 
:rood,  even  while  you  were  neglecting  your  great- 
est benefactor,  with  wicked  ingratitude,  every  hour 
of  waking  life.  Does  God  deserve  such  treatment ! 
God,  the  source  of  happiness !  the  God  of  grace  ! 

O  sinner,  how  aggravated  is' your  guilt!  ag- 
gravated by  the  grace,  and  goodness,  and  excel- 
lencies of  your  abused  and  neglected  benefactor. 
God  so  kind,  and  vou  so  ungrateful !    God  so 


1 20  AGGRAVATIONS  OF  THE  GUILT  OF 

compassionate,  and  you  so  negligent  of  all  his 
compassion  !  Christ  so  loving,  and  you  so  basely 
neglectful  of  his  love !  his  exertions  on  your 
behalf  so  great,  and  your  neglect  of  him  so  ob- 
stinate, and  long-continued  !  the  Eternal  Spirit 
so  kind  in  producing  serious  impressions  in  your 
heart,  and  you  so  deaf  to  his  still  small  voice,  so 
unyeilding  to  his  strivings  in  your  breast. 

4.  For  what  is  your  God  thus  neglected  ? 
Here  is  another  aggravation  of  your  guilt.  Not 
for  an  equal  friend  or  benefactor,  but  for  the 
world,  and  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  When 
God  bids  you  turn,  it  is  not  to  turn  from  what  is 
good;  but  to  exchange  sin's  base  pleasures,  or 
trifling  neglect,  for  pure  and  solid  delights,  and 
serious  attention  to  interests  of  eternal  moment. 
It  is  not  from  a  course  of  conduct  that  you  can 
yourself  approve  ;  but  from  vile  ungrateful  neg- 
lect of  the  best  friends,  and  of  all  thatwill  longcon- 
cern  you.  It  is  not  from  friends  and  benefactors, 
that  have  a  righteous  claim  upon  you;  but  from 
the  pursuit  of  a  world  that  is  alluring  you  to 
ruin,  and  from  the  bonds  of  the  wicked  one  that 
would  sink  you  in  the  pit  of  despair  and  tor- 
ment. Could  a  lost  soul  be  snatched  from  hell, 
and  then  abuse  this  mercy,  and  neglect  the  God 
that  delivered  him,  how  vile,  how  horrid  would 
be  such  ingratitude !  O  consider,  you,  while  in 
your  sins,  are  on  the  edge  of  hell !  you  are  ready 
for  that  place  of  woe !  you  are  all  but  there  ! 
God  would  deliver  you,  butoh,  unhappy  creature ! 
you  treat  with  base  ungrateful  neglect  your  com- 
passionate Benefactor,  and  his  invaluable  mercy  • 

5.  This  guilt,  in  itself  so  aggravated,  is  ag- 
gravated still  more,  by  all  the  mercies  you  neg- 


NEGLECTING  GOD'S  CLAIMS.  121 

lect  or  abuse;  and  by  the  love  you  slight;  and 
by  the  means  of  grace  you  disregard ;  and  by 
all  that  has  been,  and  is,  done  to  make  you 
happy.  Every  careless  day  you  live,  adds  to 
the  heavy  load  of  your  transgressions.  You 
have  had  another  day  in  which  to  turn  to  God, 
and  had  it  in  vain.  You  have  continued  a  rebel 
for  another  day.  Every  wasted  sabbath  aggravates 
your  guilt.  You  have  had  another  sabbath  in 
which  to  turn  to  God,  but  had  it  in  vain.  Every 
warning  addressed  to  you,  every  gospel  sermon 
you  hear,  is  another  mercy  lost  upon  you.  Could 
ihey  speak,  your  mercies  might  plead  against 
you.  Your  sabbaths,  had  they  voice,  might  say, 
"We  shone  on  him,  and  he  abused  our  precious 
hours!"  Your  weeks  and  years  might  complain, 
"  We  furnished  him  with  numerous  opportu- 
nities to  become  wise  unto  salvation,  but  he 
slighted  them  all."  The  sun  that  shines  on  you, 
the  earth  on  which  you  tread,  might  witness 
against  you.  These  indeed  have  not  speech,  but 
your  abuse  of  mercies  will  as  much  be  remem- 
bered as  if  they  had.  Your  Christian  friends 
may  have  to  witness  against  you,  and  to  declare 
how  often  they  warned  you,  but  warned  you  in 
vain.  Your  minister  may  have  to  declare  that 
he  is  free  from  your  blood,  for  he  has  not 
shunned  to  declare  to  you  all  the  counsel  of 
God.  And  God  himself  will  be  a  swift  and  ter- 
rible witness  against  you.  He  will  remember  the 
mercies  he  gave,  and  the  invitations  he  addressed 
to  you;  all  he  did  to  bless  you;  all  which  you 
slighted  and  abused.     O,  turn,  turn  to  God  ! 

6.  Consider  also  the  numerous  claims  which 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  brightest  image  of  the 


122  THE   SAVIOUR'S  CLAIMS 

Father,  has  upon  you.  If  your  heart  is  not  har- 
der than  stone,  and  cold  as  mountains  of  eternal 
ice,  there  are  considerations  in  his  character,  ana 
work,  and  love,  that  should  bow  you  at  his  feet. 
Every  god-like  excellency  appears  in  his  charac- 
ter; and  was  displayed  by  him,  when,  as  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh,  he  sojourned  below.  And 
all  those  excellencies  and  attributes  he  would 
employ  for  your  benefit,  or  to  strengthen  your 
consolations  in  himself.  Think  of  all  this,  and 
should  you  not  love  him  ?  Think  of  the  great- 
ness of  his  love.  Imagine  affection  in  its  strong- 
est forms ;  but  his  was  stronger.  Have  you 
friends,  that  love  you  as  life  itself?  Christ  has 
displayed  superior  love.  Those  friends  have  not 
left  a  heaven  for  you !  They  have  not  trod 
through  scenes  of  suffering  and  death  on  your 
account !  Love  you  as  much  as  th^y  may,  they 
have  worn  for  you  no  crowns  of  thorns,  and  borne 
no  cross  of  misery.  They  have  left  no  throne,  to 
raise  you  from  the  depths  of  woe,  and  laid  down 
no  life  to  ransom  yours;  but  the  blessed  Son  of 
God  has  done  all  this  !  He  came  from  heaven 
to  earth,  to  raise  you  from  earth  to  heaven.  He 
left  his  starry  throne,  he  humbled  himself,  and 
bepame  obedient  to  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross,  that  he  might  give  life  to  you.  He  agoniz- 
ed in  Gethsemane,  and  endured  the  crown  of 
thorns,  that  he  might  raise  you,  an  undone  child 
of  man,  to  glory,  honour,  and  immortality.  He 
died  on  a  cross  of  dishonour  and  misery,  that  he 
might  raise  you  from  death  to  life;  and  from 
condemnation  to  salvation;  and  from  ruin  to 
happiness ;  and  from  the  deep  debasement  of  sin 
to  a  throne  of  honour  eternal  in  the  heavens. 


FROM  HIS  GRACE  AND  GOODNESS.  123 

All  ibis,  reader,  he  has  done  as  really  for  you,  as 
if  there  were  not  another  sinner  that  needed  such 
stupendous  mercy.  And  should  you  not  yield 
your  heart  and  your  all  to  him  ?  should  you  not 
love  him  with  supreme  and  never-dying-  regard  ? 
Will  you  not,  when  none  else  can  vie  with  him  ? 
Had  some  other  friend  done  as  much,  or  almost 
as  much  for  you,  had  some  other  benefactor  laid 
you  under  equal,  or  almost  equal  obligations,  the 
guilt  of  neglect  would  be  less  atrocious.  You 
might  slight  him  then  without  such  certain  ruin, 
and  without  such  vile  ingratitude.  If  some  other 
Saviour  could  say,  "  For  you  I  left  a  heavenly 
throne;  I  stooped  to  deepest  poverty  on  your 
account ;  I  humbled  myself,  and  became  for 
you  obedient  to  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross  ; 
and  for  you  I  died  :  be  mine"  —  if  thus  conflict- 
ing claims  were  made  upon  you,  you  might  then 
slight  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  give  yourself  to  that 
other  Saviour.  But  you  know  this  is  not,  cannot 
be,  the  case ;  and  will  you  not  be  his  ? 

7.  Think  of  the  good  which  this  divine  Sa- 
viour would  bestow  upon  you  :  as  he  humbled 
himself  and  died  for  you,  so  he  would  bless  and 
save  you.  Think  of  your  poverty ;  he  would 
enrich  you.  Think  of  your  guilt;  he  would  cleanse 
you.  Think  of  the  pit  of  despair  from  which  he 
would  snatch  you.  Think  of  the  numerous 
mercies  he  would  bestow  upon  you.  Compared 
with  him,  your  dearest  and  best  friends  are 
helpless  benefactors,  and  miserable  comforters. 
If  you  have  friends  so  affectionate,  as  to  be 
willing  even  to  sacrifice  life  itself  for  you,  what 
are  they  to  him?  You  have  sins;  can  they  for- 
give them  ?    Ah  no  !    You  have  a  corrupt  heart; 


124  THE  saviour's  claims  from 

can  they.  lenew  that  heart,  and  fashion  it  afresh  ? 
No,  never !  You  are  a  feeble  mortal ;  can  they 
support  you  amidst  a  thousand  snares  and  trials  ? 
They  cannot.  You  have  to  languish  in  sickness 
and  pain ;  can  they  brighten  the  gloom  of  a  sick 
chamber,  and  fill  it  with  celestial  peace  ?  Ah  no ! 
You  have  to  die ;  can  they  cheer  your  departing 
spirit,  and  give  it  an  abundant  entrance  into  an 
everlasting  kingdom?  Ah  no!  You  have  to  be 
judged;  can  they  crown  you  with  approbation, 
and  welcome  you  to  glory  ?  Ah  no!  With  you 
they  must  stand  before  the  same  solemn  bar, 
blessed  or  cursed,  as  they  have  regarded  or 
slighted  him.  But  have  you  sins;  this  divine 
Saviour  can  take  the  whole  load  away,  so  that  his 
Father's  eye  shall  not  see  one  unforgiven  blemish 
in  your  character,  or  stain  upon  your  soul.  Have 
you  a  sinful  heart ;  he  can  change  the  heart  of 
stone,  and  give  a  heart  of  flesh.  Have  you  to 
pass  through,  perhaps,  years  of  snares  and  trials; 
he  can  guard  you  from  every  snare,  and  support 
you  in  every  trial ;  he  can  do  this,  till  time,  and 
snares,  and  trials  end  together.  Have  you  to 
languish  in  sickness  and  suffering ;  he  can  dissi- 
pate the  gloom  of  suffering ;  can  make  sickness 
better  than  health,  and  even  pain  than  ease. 
Have  you  to  die ;  he  can  cheer  your  departing 
spirit,  and  can  infuse  strong  consolation  into 
your  otherwise  sinking  soul.  He  can  uphold 
you  when  flesh  and  heart  are  failing  together; 
he  can  receive  your  departing  spirit ;  he  can 
present  it  faultless,  before  the  presence  of  his 
glory,  with  exceeding  joy.  He  can  say,  "  Father, 
this  spirit  is  mine;  receive  it  into  the  man- 
sions thy  love  has  prepared."     And  when  mil- 


HIS  GRACE  AND  LOVE.  125 

lions  tremble  at  his  bar,  and  all  nations  are 
gathered  there,  he  can  say,  "Come,  thou  blessed 
of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
thee  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  O 
reader  !  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  do  all  this 
for  you,  and  none  beside  can  do  it;  and  will 
you  not  yield  yourself  to  him  ?  Should  not  you, 
who  love  earthly  friends,  love  this  infinitely 
greater  Benefactor.  Not  only  is  he  able  to  do 
all  this,  but  if  you  become  his  he  will  do  it  all. 
Multitudes  that  no  man  can  number,  have 
already  experienced  in  life,  in  death,  and  in  hea- 
ven, his  care.  Behold  these  happy  companies, 
as  described  to  you  by  an  inspired  pen:  "I 
beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multitude,  which  no  man 
could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and 
people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  and 
before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,,  and 
palms  in  their  hands;  and  cried  with  a  loud 
voice,  saying,  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.  These 
are  they  which  came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and 
have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Therefore  are  they 
before  the  throne  of  God,  and  serve  him  day  and 
night  in  his  temple :  and  he  that  sitteth  on  the 
throne  shall  dwell  among  them.  They  shall 
hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more ;  nei- 
ther shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any  heat. 
For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living 
fountains  of  waters :  and  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes."1 

8.  O,  could  you  view  that  blessed  assembly; 

(1)  Rev.  vii.  9.  14,  &c. 
M 


126    DESIRABLENESS  OF  THE   SAVIOUR'S  FAVOUR. 

could  you  see  countless  thousands  happy  in 
their  heavenly  home;  could  you  behold  the  Son 
of  God,  crowned  with  celestial  glory,  and  hear 
him  then  inviting  others  to  the  realms  of  rest, 
and  saying,  "I  love  them  that  love  me,  and 
they  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me,  and  him 
that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out;" 
would  you  then  not  desire  to  listen  to  his  voice, 
and  to  be  one  of  that  happy  multitude?  Could 
you,  as  successive  years  roll  on,  and  as  new 
pilgrims  pass  from  earth  to  heaven,  behold  this 
divine  Saviour  exerting  for  each  his  power  and 
his  care;  could  you  see  him  supporting  the 
dying,  and  welcoming  the  departing  spirits  of 
the  just — would  you  not  then  yield  yourself  to 
him  ?  Could  you  see  him,  as  he  will  be  seen  at 
another  day,  bestowing  the  crown  of  life  on  every 
one  that  is  faithful  unto  death — would  you  not 
then  receive  him  ?  These  things  you  cannot  see 
now,  but  if  you  become  his  disciple,  will  see  and 
know  hereafter.  If  on  the  other  hand  you  slight 
him  and  his  salvation,  how,  when  too  late,  will 
you  covet  the  blessings  you  slight!  How  you 
will  wish  for  an  interest  in  him  as  your  shepherd  ! 
How  you  will  desire  to  be  welcomed  by  him  in 
the  moment  of  death !  and  when  you  meet  your 
God,  what  would  you  give  for  him  then  to  say, 
"This  soul  is  mine  !"  And  when  you  see  him  on 
his  judgment  throne,  with  what  inexpressible 
earnestness  will  you  wish  to  meet  the  gracious 
welcome,  that  awaits  his  humblest  followers ! 
Will  you  then  love  him?  Will  you  be  his? 
Inquire  of  the  dying  the  worth  of  his  love.  Ask 
the  dead,  and  mow  would  they  describe  its  value ! 
No  words  can  utter  their  sense  of  its  importance. 


EVERY  GOOD  IN  CHRIST.  127 

9.  If  you  are  made  a  happy  partaker  of  the 
blessings  of  the  Saviour's  grace,  this  will  prepare 
you  for  every  event.  The  soul  then  possesses 
pardon,  peace,  happiness;  God  as  its  portion, 
and  heaven  as  its  home.  Life  need  no  longer 
retain  its  charm,  nor  death  its  terror.  You  need 
not  fear  pain,  nor  sickness,  nor  death,  nor  judg- 
ment, nor  Satan,  nor  eternal  scenes.  You  may 
welcome  your  departing  hour,  and  greeting 
angels  and  everlasting  realities.  The  blessed 
apostle  counted  all  things  loss,  that  he  might  win 
Christ.  If  Christ  is  won  by  you,  you  are  rich  in 
poverty,  and  blessed  in  affliction ;  will  ere  long 
be  a  conqueror  in  death,  and  in  a  few  short 
years,  at  most,  an  inhabitant  of  heaven.  Eternal 
blessings  await  you  there ;  and  there  eternal  friends 
are  ready  to  receive  you.  Had  you  worldly  pros- 
perity, this  might  leave  you.  Had  you  only 
worldly  friends,  the  dearest  and  the  best,  they 
must  die;  but  if  you  have  the  Saviour  as  your 
friend,  the  nearest  will  he  be  when  others  are 
most  remote ;  and  though  you  must  die  alone  the 
Lord  will  deliver  you  from  every  evil  work,  and 
will  preserve  you  to  his  heavenly  kingdom. 
And  are  you  then  his?  or  will  you  be  so? 

His  love  is  everlasting  love.  As  to  this  world, 
the  dearest  ties  are  quickly  broken.  You  may 
soon  have  to  utter  the  lamentation,  "My brother 
or  my  sister,  my  parent  or  my  child,  my  wife  or 
my  husband,  is  dead.  The  heart  that  was  never 
cold  before,  is  frozen  by  the  cold  of  death;"  but 
never  would  you  have  to  say,  "The  Saviour's 
heart  is  cold,  his  hand  has  lost  its  power  to  bless." 
Rather,  if  his  disciple,  you  might  triumphantly 
exclaim,  "Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of 


128   THE  LORD  JESUS  NOT  A   FEEBLE  FRIEND. 

Christ  ?  shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecu- 
tion, or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  ? 
Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  con- 
querors through  him  that  loved  us.  For  I  am 
persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor 
angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord/'1 

10.  Thus  all  that  man  deems  excellent,  is 
exceeded  in  the  Saviour  and  in  his  salvation. 
Here  are  better  friends  than  this  world  ever  gave, 
and  friends  whose  love  entails  no  disappoint- 
ment, and  dreads  no  end.  Here  is  better  liberty 
and  better  wealth,  than  the  liberty  or  the  wealth 
for  which  millions  have  laboured  or  died.  They 
who  yield  to  him  are  infinite  gainers;  and  will 
you  not  be  his?  should  you  not  love  him  ?  Can 
you,  will  you,  practically,  though  not  in  profes- 
sion, prefer  Satan  to  him  ?  When  you  are  in- 
vited to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  are  invit- 
ed not  to  an  uninterested  spectator  of  your 
way,  but  to  the  kindest  of  Friends ;  not  to  a  feeble 
benefactor,  but  to  the  Giver  of  eternal  good; 
not  to  one  to  whom  you  are  not  indebted,  but 
to  a  Saviour  who  has  every  solemn  claim  upon 
you ;  not  to  one  whose  favour  will  always  be  to 
you  an  indifferent  matter,  but  to  Him  whose 
favour  will  soon  appear  of  such  value,  that  if 
possessed,  worlds  would  not  buy  it  from  you  ; 
and  if  wanted,  you  would,  did  you  possess  them, 
give  worlds  to  gain  it.  Think  too,  you  are  not 
now  invited  to  a  friend,  who  will  for  ever  wait : 

(1)  Rom.  viii.  35,  &c. 


NEGLECT  OF  CHRIST.  129 

there  are  limits  to  his  patience  and  mercy.  If 
you  delay,  he  may  swear  in  his  wrath,  that  you 
shall  not  enter  into  his  rest.  Are  you  then  wil- 
ling to  be  his?  Will  you  be  so?  Should  you 
not  love  him  ?  Will  you  consecrate  yourself  to 
this  Lord  of  glory,  who  clothed  in  love,  and 
possessed  of  eternal  treasures,  would  guide  you 
in  life,  cheer  you  in  death,  and  conduct  you  to 
heaven  ?     O  reader,  what  is  your  choice  ? 

11.  Notwithstanding  the  excellencies  of  the  di- 
vine Saviour  are  so  great,  and  the  blessings  of  his 
salvation  so  precious,  no  sin  is  more  common 
than  neglect  of  him.  Many,  who  may  read  the 
preceding  pages,  when  they  reach  this  will,  it  is 
to  be  feared,  be  still  neglectors  of  the  all-com- 
passionate and  gracious  Son  of  God.  Perhaps 
you  are  one  of  this  number ;  if  so,  be  entreated 
to  meditate  on  the  guilt  and  folly  of  your  conduct. 
The  Lord  Jesus  in  two  parables  represents  the 
sin  of  neglecting  himself  and  his  salvation  as  the 
most  common  of  sins.  Describing  the  conduct  of 
mankind,  in  reference  to  the  message  of  heavenly 
mercy,  he  says,  "They  made  light  of  it;"1  "they 
all  with  one  consent  began  to  make  excuse."2 
This  sinful  neglect  is  found  among  all  classes, 
and  all  characters  but  one;  the  class  composed 
of  his  devoted  disciples.  Some  sins  are  confined 
to  profligates ;  but  not  this.  Of  this  the  moral 
are  as  guilty  as  the  profligate.  Some  sins  are 
those  of  youth,  others  of  age ;  but  this  is  the  sin 
of  both.  Some  sins  are  the  sins  of  poverty,  others 
of  wealth ;  but  of  this  the  rich  and  the  poor  are 
equally  guilty.  Some  sins  are  the  sins  of  the 
openly  wicked,  of  the  sabbath-breaking  and  pro- 

(1)  Matt.  xxii.  5.  (2)  Luke,  xiv.  18. 

M  3 


130  THE  SIN  OF  NEGLECTING  THE  LORD 

ane  part  of  mankind  ;  but  this  is  the  sin  of  mil- 
ions  that  frequent  the  house  of  God,  as  well  as  of 
millions  that  neglect  that  sacred  place.  This  is  the 
sin  of  multitudes  that  avoid  profaneness,  as  well  as 
of  the  openly  profane.  Open  crimes  kill  their 
ihousands,  but  neglect  of  Christ  kills  its  ten  thou- 
sands. No  question  is  more  solemn  than,  "  How 
shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  P"1 
12.  But  when  is  salvation  neglected  ?  This 
precious  boon  is  neglected  when  it  is  not  earnestly 
and  perseveringly  pursued.  "  Strive,"  said  the 
Lord,  "  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate ;  for  many,  I 
say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not 
be  able."2 — It  is  neglected  when  it  is  not  the  sub- 
ject of  our  first  and  chief  concern  :  "  Seek  ye 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness."3 
— Salvation  is  neglected  when  worldly  concerns 
form  an  excuse  for  trifling  with  the  interests  of 
the  deathless  soul.  Thus  the  Lord  Jesus  de- 
scribes neglectors  as  acting:  "They  went  their 
ways,  one  to  his  farm  and  another  to  his  mer- 
chandize."— The  Lord  Jesus  is  neglected  when 
he  is  not  loved  and  valued  more  than  every 
friend,  and  when,  as  far  as  the  preference  of  the 
heart  is  concerned,  all  is  not  sacrificed  for  him  : 
"  Whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  forsaketh  not  all 
that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple.  If  any 
man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  and 
mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  and  brethren, 
and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot 
be  my  disciple.  And  whosoever  doth  not  bear 
his  cross,  and  come  after  me,  cannot  be  my  disci- 
ple."4— Neglect  was  the  guilt  of  Capernaum, 
which  exposed  them  to    denunciations  of  awful 

(1)  Heb.  ii.  3.  (2)  Luke,  xiii.  24.  (3)  Matt,  vi.33.   (4)  Luke,  xiv  33. 


JESUS  ILLUSTRATED.  13! 

woe :  "  And  thou,  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted 
unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell :  for 
if  the  mighty  works,  which  have  been  done  in 
thee,  had  been  done  in  Sodom,  it  would  have  re- 
mained until  this  day.  But  I  say  unto  you,  tfott 
it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  thee."1  The 
Saviour  was  not  opposed  and  persecuted  in  Ca- 
pernaum. We  do  not  read  of  his  fleeing  thence, 
or  being  driven  by  violence  away.  But  neglect 
was  their  sin.  They  heard  ;  they  were  desirous  of 
hearing  the  gracious  words  that  dropped  from  his 
lips  :2  but  they  profiled  not.  They  embraced  not 
the  great  salvation.  They  listened  to  his  warn- 
ings, his  threatenings,  and  his  promises,  and 
thronged  to  hear  them  ;  but  heeded  them  not. 
Hence,  no  effect  remained*.  How  often,  alas  !  is 
this  the  case.  The  gospel  is  heard,  but  not  em- 
braced. The  swearer  hears  it,  and  is  still  a 
swearer;  the  drunkard,  and  is  still  a  drunkard. 
The  sabbath-breaker  listens,  but  continues  a  sab- 
bath-breaker :  the  covetous  preserves  his  ava- 
rice :  the  worldly  pursues  his  vanities :  the 
careless  young  man  and  the  trifling  young  wo- 
man continue  careless  and  trifling,  and  the  great 
salvation  is  thus  neglected. 

13.  O  reader,  how  little  can  you  feel  aright  the 
guilt  of  slighting  such  a  gospel  and  such  a  Sa- 
viour! The  gospel  exhibits  a  plan  devised  by  the 
Eternal  Father,  and  executed  by  the  Son  in  hu- 
man nature,  to  bestow  the  richest  blessings  upon 
lost  mankind.  A  scheme  of  mercy  devised  by 
an  Almighty  Judge,  to  save  a  ruined  malefactor; 
by  the  King  Eternal,  to  redeem  a  wretched  rebel  • 

(1    Matt.  xi.  23,  24.  (2)  Mark,  ii.  2. 


132  GREATNESS  OF  THE  SIN  OF 

This  gospel  is  adapted  to  preserve  you  from  the 
depths  of  hell,  and  to  bestow  on  you  unfading 
happiness ;  yet  this  is  the  gospel  you  neglect ! 
This  plan  of  heavenly  mercy  was  executed  by 
hrhf  before  whom  demons  tremble ;  at  whose 
voice  the  dead  arose;  and  at  whose  dying  cry 
the  heavens  grew  dark,  and  the  earth  quaked, 
and  the  rocks  rent:  yet  this  is  the  gospel  you 
slight !  To  secure  and  bestow  this  salvation  the 
Lord  of  Glory  came  down  from  heaven,  and  la- 
boured, and  died ;  and  yet  you  neglect  the  bless- 
ing! The  Eternal  Spirit  exerts  his  influence  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  mercy ;  and  yet  you  disre- 
gard this  great  salvation  !  Millions  in  heaven 
enjoy  its  blessings ;  millions  in  hell  wail  the  want 
of  them :  and  yet  you  on  earth  can  trifle  with 
them  !  Angels,  with  adoring  wonder,  would  look 
into  the  mysteries  of  redemption  j1  and  yet  you, 
a  dying  mortal,  treat  those  wonders  with  infatua- 
ted indifference  !  Wretched  creature  !  that  in 
doing  this,  art  slighting  a  Saviour's  love  ;  his 
dying  sorrows;  his  atoning  blood;  his  living 
care ;  his  promised  blessings ;  all  he  has  done ; 
all  he  is  doing ;  and  all  he  will  for  ever  do  for 
those  that  listen  to  his  voice  ! 

14.  O  reader,  what  is  the  guilt  of  such  neglect ! 
Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  !  Behold  the  once 
suffering,  now  glorified  Saviour !  Why  should 
you  slight  him !  Does  he  deserve  this  at  your 
hands  !  Has  he  for  you  done  so  much  ;  endur- 
ed so  much,  does  he  offer  you  so  much  ;  and 
have  you/no  return  to  make  but  wicked  neglect! 
Is  he  willing  to  do  so  much  eternally  for  you  ; 
and  should  he  be  slighted  !    Does  not  he  deserve 

(1)  1  Peter,  iv.  12. 


NEGLECTING  CHRIST.  133 

your  heart!  Unhappy  creature!  He  would 
bless  you,  and  you  in  effect  refuse  to  be  blessed ! 
Cruel  enemy  to  your  own  soul !  He  would  save 
your  deathless  soul,  but  you  will  destroy  it;  while 
you  receive  not  him  whom  every  saint  in  heaven 
received,  and  by  slighting  whom  every  lost  sin- 
ner to  whom  the  gospel  has  gone  has  perished. 
Many  are  the  aggravations  of  such  guilt.  The 
cause  of  this  wicked  neglect  lies  in  your  unwil- 
lingness to  be  truly  his.  So  he  said  to  some  of 
old,  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  might 
have  life."1  The  guilt  he  charged  on  them  was 
unwillingness  to  be  his :  "  Ye  will  not,  (ye  are  not 
willing  to)  come  to  me."  While  you  neglect  the 
gospel,  the  same  heavy  charge  lies  against  you. 
Oh  the  guilt  of  such  a  state !  He  has  every  claim 
upon  you ;  and  you  not  willing  to  be  his  !  Follow 
him  in  your  thoughts  from  his  throne  to  his  man- 
ger at  Bethlehem,  and  to  his  cross  at  Calvary, 
and  think,  all  this  was  for  you  ;  and  you  not  will- 
ing to  come  to  Him  !  Think  of  the  eternal  Fa- 
ther's goodness  in  giving  such  a  Saviour,  when 
"  He  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him 
up  for  us  all  ;"2  and  you  not  willing  to  receive 
him  !  Think  of  his  design  to  save  you  from  the 
wrath  to  come,  to  raise  you  to  glory,  honour,  and 
immortality  ;  and  you  not  willing !  O  horrid 
load  of  guilt !  O  exceeding  wickedness  !  A  God 
willing  to  receive  you  as  a  child ;  and  you  unwil- 
ling to  become  one  !  A  Saviour  willing  to  make 
you  his  own  ;    and  you  unwilling  to  be  his  ! 

15.  The  neglect  of  Christ  binds  all  your  other 
sins  upon  you,  and  increases  tenfold  the  load  of 
your  transgressions.     Did  you  receive  him,  your 

(1)  John,  v.  40.  (2)  Rom.  viii.  32. 


134  NEGLECT  OF  CHRIST  BINDS 

guilt  would  all  be  blotted  out ;  but  as  you  slight 
him,  it  will  be  all  charged  against  you  hereafter. 
Then  it  will  be  seen,  that  you-  were  the  man  that 
sinned  against  infinite  goodness  with  a  high 
hand,  and  slighted  every  admonition  to  repent- 
ance; or  that  you  were  the  woman  that  rebelled 
against  the  God  of  love,  and  would  do  evil  in  his 
sight ;  that  you  were  the  thoughtless  youth,  or  the 
careless  girl,  that  lived  in  the  midst  of  privileges, 
but  abused  them,  and  refused  your  heart  to  him,  to 
whom  they  were  meant  to  lead  you ;  that  you, 
perhaps,  had  a  house  of  prayer  near  your  dwell- 
ing, yet  wasted  your  sabbaths  at  home,  or,  if  you 
entered  the  sacred  courts,  trifled  with  all  that  is 
most  solemn.  What  confusion  will  overtake 
you  when  all  this  is  known !  Your  wicked  neg- 
lect of  Christ,  weightens  all  your  load  of  other 
guilt;  binds  every  curse  upon  you;  fits  you  for 
hell,  and  soon  will  sink  you  there.  For  to  re- 
ceive the  grace  of  God  in  vain,  is  the  worst 
abuse  of  mercy.  It  is  bad  to  receive  in  vain, 
and  to  render  useless  by  wicked  neglect,  the 
gifts  of  food  and  raiment,  liberty  and  health; 
but,  far  worse,  to  treat  with  indifference  God's  love 
in  his  only-begotten  Son.  This  is  the  finishing 
crime  in  human  guilt.  It  is  viler  ingratitude, 
than  all  other  ingratitude  of  which  you  can  be 
guilty.  When  persisted  in,  it  fills  up  the  mea- 
sure of  the  sinner's  iniquities.  His  other  guilt 
might  all  be  blotted  out;  but  this  sin  fixes  all  the 
rest  upon  him,  and  makes  the  cup  of  his  wicked- 
ness "overflow.  Thus,  in  reality,  it  is  the  sealing 
act  to  the  soul's  damnation.  So  long  as  you  live 
without  receiving  the  Lord  Jesus,  you  are  lying 
in  all  your  guilt ;  and  your  danger  is  extreme.  You 


ALL  ITS  OTHER   SINS   UPON  THE   SOUL.        135 

• 

are  always  in  danger.  Do  you  laugh ;  it  is  on  the 
ed^e  of  hell.  Do  you  wake ;  you  are  nearer  to 
waking  there.  Do  you  sleep ;  you  are  nearer  to 
the  place  where  you  will  never  sleep.  Do  you 
rejoice ;  your  joy  will  soon  be  changed  to  sadness, 
and  your  laughter  to  eternal  mourning.  While 
you  are  neglecting  Christ,  your  life  is  sin,  your 
years  a  curse,  and  your  death  will  be  perdition. 
Neglect  is  that  sin  which  the  lost  will  have  to 
remember  with  infinite  remorse,  while  eternity 
endures.  The  despairing  soul  will  be  tormented 
with  the  reflection,  'I  would  not  come  to  Christ. 
Had  I  come  to  him,  the  guilt  that  has  undone 
me,  would  all  have  been  forgiven ;  but  I  would 
not  come.  I  compelled,  by  my  neglect,  the  Lord 
of  Glory  to  say  of  me,  with  guilty  millions,  "  How 
oft  would  I  have  gathered  you  as  a  hen  doth  gather 
her  brood  under  her  wings,  but  ye  would  not!"  O 
sinner,  these  words  may  ring  in  the  hearing  of  a 
lost  soul  through  eternal  ages !  "  Ye  would  rot 
come  to  me."  And  still  will  the  wretched  cri- 
minal have  for  ever  and  ever  and  ever  to  feel, 
•'  I  am  out  of  heaven,  because,  I  would  not  go  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  I  would  neglect  him.  I 
am  in  hell,  because  I  would  not  yield  to  him  ;  I 
would  neglect  him."  And  every  pang  the 
miserable  immortal  feels,  may  revive  the  tor- 
menting recollection,  "  I  endure  this  pang,  I  am 
here,  because  I  would  not  go  to  Christ,  but  fixed 
all  my  other  guilt  upon  me,  by  wicked  neglect  of 
him." 

16.  In  slighting  Christ,  you  are  doing  just 
what  Satan  would  have  you  do ;  and  are  gratify- 
ing his  infernal  desires  for  your  own  destruction. 
The  choice  of  heartfelt    religion,   is   a  choice 


136  NEGLECT  OF  CHRIST 

which  is  approved  by  angels,  and  by  their  great 
Sovereign,  God.  It  is  that  which  the  dying  and 
the  dead  approve.  It  is  a  profitable  one  in  youth 
or  age ;  in  health  and  sickness ;  in  life  and 
death.  It  is  a  choice,  which  all  will  wish  at 
length  to  have  made,  and  of  which  no  one  will 
ever  repent ;  but  it  is  a  choice  which  is  opposed 
by  the  world  and  the  devil.  Satan  does  his 
utmost,  to  prevent  unhappy  men  from  receiving 
the  Lord  of  Life,  and  salvation  through  him. 
He  takes  away  the  seed  from  the  careless  heart,1 
he  hides  the  gospel,  by  his  infernal  influence, 
from  the  benighted  mind;  for,  "If  our  gospel 
be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost:  in  whom 
the  God  of  this  world,  hath  blinded  the  minds  of 
them  which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the 
glorious  gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of 
God,  should  shine  unto  them."2 

Consider,  reader,  who  it  is  that  would  keep  you 
from  Christ — Satan  and  his  blinded  slaves;  and 
while  you  neglect  the  gracious  Saviour,  you  gra- 
tify the  cruel  wishes  of  the  wicked  one  himself. 
You  accomplish  his  end  as  effectually,  as  if  you 
seriously  designed  this  result.  You  destroy  your 
soul  as  completely,  as  if  you  could  sell  it  to  "  your 
adversary  the  devil,  who,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walkelh 
about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour."3  You 
would  not  be  so  infatuated  as  solemnly  to  vow, 
"I  will  be  the  devoted  slave  of  the  wicked  one; 
I  will  not  be  the  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  I  will 
not  learn  of  him ;  I  will  not  give  him  my  affections, 
nor  commit  to  him  my  soul ;  I  will  live  careless 
of  his  salvation ;  I  will  call  him  Lord,  but  will 
neglect  him;   and  treat  with  equal  indifference, 

(1)  Matt.  xiii.  1ft        (2)  2  Cor.  iy.  3,  4.        (3)  1  Pet.  v.  8. 


PLEASES  THE  WICKED  ONE.  137 

his  invitations  and  his  threatenings,  his  favour 
and  his  arger.  I  will  not  have  pardon  from  him, 
nor  receive  any  blessing  from  his  hands ;  but  I 
will  perish,  and  deliberately  do  I  adopt  as  my 
own,  the  awful  language  of  the  dying  profligate, 
1  Come,  O  devil,  and  take  me.'  "l  But  though  you 
would  tremble  to  utter  such  expressions,  be  solemn- 
ly assured,  that  while  you  neglect  Christ,  you 
gratify  the  desires,  and  accomplish,  as  to  yourself, 
the  designs  of  Satan  as  effectually  as  if  you  ex- 
pressed such  horrid  resolutions.  This  is  indeed 
the  dreadful  fact.  Be  not  so  deceived  by  the 
wiles  of  the  wicked  one,  as  to  imagine  that  some- 
thing less  decidedly  ruinous  is  connected  with 
your  neglect.  This  is  the  case,  whatever  you  do, 
if  from  your  heart  you  receive  not  the  Saviour. 
Only  stop  short  of  coming  to  him,  and  Satan's 
designs  are  accomplished.  It  will  matter  little 
in  the  view  of  that  infernal  enemy,  that  you 
may  respect  religion,  and  be  less  immoral  than 
some  others;  for  while  you  commit  not  yourself 
to  the  Saviour,  you  will  still  belong  to  his  dark 
kingdom;  and  still  be  guided  by  him,  according 
to  the  course  of  this  world. 

17.  Dreadful  as  is  the  guilt  of  slighting  the 
Saviour's  claims,  not  less  deplorable  is  the  folly. 
In  neglecting  the  Lord  Jesus,  you  are  neglecting 
with  him  blessings  of  everlasting  worth ;  all 
the  blessings  of  eternity.  Behold  them  !  view 
those  mansions  of  peace  !  that  better  country  ! 
those  rivers  of  pleasure  at  God's  right  hand  for 
evermore  !  those  crowns  of  glory,  which  await 
the  just!  and  all  the  tranquil  peace,  and  serene 
delight,  of  one  unbounded,  eternal  day  of  happi- 

(1)  William  Pope. 
N 


138     ALL  GOOD  NEGLECTED  AND  LOST 

ness  In  slighting  the  Redeemer,  you  slight  all 
this.  Ask  angels  and  saints  in  light,  the  value 
of  these  blessings,  and  would  they  not  tell  you. 
that  the  wealth  of  a  world  were  insignificant 
compared  with  the  smallest  celestial  treasure ! 
But  what  are  all  those  treasures,  yet  you  slight 
all !  Yes,  in  slighting  Christ,  you  are  slighting 
all  this  precious  world  of  blessings.  Not  only 
are  neglecting  him,  but  every  good  with  him, 
and  in  losing  him  are  losing  all  O  wretched, 
ness  extreme,  but  self-incurred  !  Ruin  everlasting, 
hut  wilfully  chosen !  for  how  soon  will  all,  for 
which  Christ  is  lost,  have  left  you  for  ever! 
You  are  not  his.  Unhappy  mortal !  what  a  load 
of  guilt  and  ruin  is  upon  you  !  Yours  is  an  un- 
utterable loss,  and  an  everlasting  one ;  the  loss  of 
all  the  benefits  of  the  Saviour's  toils  and  death; 
of  all  connected  with  his  everlasting  love.  It  is 
enough  to  break  the  heart,  merely  to  think  of 
such  a  loss ;  what  will  it  be  to  suffer  it !  How 
would  you  feel  if  every  earthly  help  and  good 
were  lost !  if  you  were  deprived  of  every  pos- 
session and  every  friend !  if  helpless,  houseless, 
starving,  and  naked,  you  were  turned  adrift  to 
pine  and  die  !  But  it  is  a  far  worse  loss  to  lose 
all  the  Saviour  bled  to  secure;  all  that  gladdens 
martyrs,  saints,  and  angels  ;  all  that  enraptures 
heaven,  and  brightens  and  blesses  eternity. 
Thus  you  are  your  own  worst  enemy,  a  worse 
enemy  to  your  own  immortal  soul  than  even 
Satan  can  be !  He  can  but  tempt  you  to  follow 
the  world  :  he  cannot  compel  you  to  neglect  the 
Saviour  and  die.  It  is  you,  that  by  refusing  to 
come  to  Christ,  choose  to  perish.  The  blessed 
effects  of  conversion  arc  great  beyond  expression. 


WHEN    CHRIST   IS    NEGLECTED.  139 

Think  of  one  ransomed  soul,  arrayed  in  the 
garments  of  salvation  and  victory.  Had  that 
now  saved  soul  been  lost,  could  it  have  shed  one 
tear  in  a  century,  it  might  have  shed  a  sea  of 
tears,  and  yet  have  been  no  nearer  to  an  end  of 
sorrow  and  despair,  when  the  ocean  were  full 
than  when  the  first  tear  fell.  That  one  soul  may 
enjoy  in  the  unmeasured  expanse  of  eternal 
ages,  more  happiness  than  the  united  sum  of 
blessings,  which  all  the  angels  of  light  have  ever 
yet  enjoyed.  That  one  soul,  in  which  sin  would 
have  reigned  unto  death,  in  which  every  hellish 
disposition  would  eternally  have  flourished,  shall 
now  for  ever -bear  its  Creator's  lovely  likeness; 
and  flourish  in  all  the  beauties  of  holiness,  and 
the  glories  of  immortality.  Thus  blessed  and 
happy,  reader,  might  your  soul  become ;  but 
slighting  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  slight  all 
this  inestimable  good.  What  would  others  give 
for  the  blessings  you  thus  madly  slight !  what 
would  the  dying !  what  would  a  despairing  soul ! 
what  would  a  spirit  just  quitting  the  body,  and 
sinking  into  the  abyss  !  what  would  a  lost  soul ! 
what  would  you  in  death  or  judgment,  and 
through  eternity  !  O  think,  reader,  how  dreadful 
is  your  infatuation,  while  you  neglect  the  Saviour ! 
and  think  how  transient,  sinful,  ruinous,  and  hate- 
ful, are  the  objects  for  which  you  neglect  him. 
Place,  as  it  were,  on  one  side,  the  Saviour  and 
salvation.  All  the  blessings  of  his  love;  all  the 
treasures  of  eternity;  the.  eternal  God  as  your 
portion,  and  mansions  in  heaven  as  your  dwell- 
ing. Place  on  the  other  side,  all  this  world  can 
give,  all  you  sins;  all  your  vanities;  all  your 
pleasures  ;  all  that  ensnares  aud  bewitches  your 


140  NEGLECT  OF  CHRIST  CHANGES 

soul  to  perdition.  Poor  sinner.  Do  you  prefei 
the  latter !  Wretchedly  blinded  and  guilty  crea- 
ture, do  you  for  these  sins  and  follies,  slight  the 
eternal  God,  the  only  Saviour  and  all  those 
blessings  !  O  if  you  do,  devils  might  gaze  on 
you  with  delight !  the  saved  with  grief,  and  the 
damned  with  wonder  !  How  deservedly  if  you 
persist  in  such  a  course,  will  you  sink  to  the 
abyss  of  hell  !  and  what  will  be  your  remorse 
there. 

18.  Neglect  of  the  divine  Saviour  not  only 
robs  the  soul  of  every  blessing,  but  with  a  deadly 
malignity  changes  every  present  blessing  to  a  curse. 
You  have  God's  mercies ;  you  had  better  never 
have  had  them,  for  every  mercy  will  increase 
your  condemnation.  The  more  gracious  God 
appears,  the  more  guilty  are  you  for  neglecting 
him.  When  a  dying  profligate  was  reminded 
that  God  is  merciful,  he  answered,  "  Or  I  could 
not  have  been  thus  guilty/'  You  have  life ; 
you  change  by  your  neglect  life  itself  into  a 
dreadful  evil ;  you  had  better  never  have  been 
born,  than  come  into  existence,  to  live  a  few 
guilty  years,  in  trifling  ana  folly,  and  then  be  for 
ever  hateful  and  wretched.  You  have  rational 
and  immortal  powers.  If  you  neglect  Christ, 
you  had  better  have  been  a  serpent,  or  a  brute, 
a  crawling  worm,  or  a  loathsome  reptile ;  than, 
through  your  own  sin,  to  be  immortal,  only  to 
be  wretched,  and  rational  merely  to  be  guilty. 
Reptiles  and  worms  are  laden  with  no  sin,  and 
no  ingratitude ;  they  treasure  up  no  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath  ;  they  fill  the  place  in 
which  their  Creator  has  fixed  them,  and  neither 
render  him  ingratitude  for  mercies  given,  nor 


EVERY  BLESSING  TO  A   CURSE.  141 

have  cause  to  fear  his  displeasure.  But  you, 
possessed  of  a  rational  and  immortal  spirit, 
raised  far  in  nature  above  the  mere  animal 
creation,  are  sinning  against  goodness  unbound- 
ed, and  excellence  that  is  infinite.  O  happy 
is  the  serpent  from  which  you  start  with  horror  ! 
happy  is  the  worm  you  tread  under  your  feet ! 
nay,  happy  is  the  senseless  dust,  on  which  you 
walk,  compared  with  yourself,  while  you  neglect 
all  the  excellencies  and  all  the  love  of  the  Sa- 
viour. You  have  many  privileges,  and  sabbaths 
of  inestimable  worth  ;  but  by  abusing  them,  you 
cnange  the  medicine  to  poison,  the  honey  to 
gall.  You  had  better  never  have  had  them ; 
had  better  have  been  a  heathen,  wretched  and 
miserable,  his  food  the  wild  roots  of  the  wilder- 
ness, his  house  a  cave,  his  god  a  serpent  or  a 
stone,  than  live  in  the  midst  of  Gospel  light, 
and  yet  neglect  the  Author  of  salvation.  You 
would  have  been  foolish  then  to  look  at  the 
lights  of  heaven,  and  the  scenes  of  earth,  and 
yet  say  to  a  stone,  "  Thou  art  my  God ;"  but  you 
would  not  have  been  so  foolish,  as  you  are,  if 
possessing  the  bible,  and  having  salvation  set 
before  you,  you  slight  that  great  salvation.  You 
would  have  been  guilty  then,  to  worship  the 
inanimate  block,  instead  of  its  unseen  Creator ; 
but  not  so  guilty,  as  in  the  midst  of  gospel 
blessings  to  neglect  the  Giver  of  them  all. 
Tyre  and  Sidon  were  guilty  heathen  cities ;  but 
more  guilty  were  those  that  heard  in  vain  the 
Saviour's  voice.  To  some  of  them  he  said,  "  I 
say  unto  you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre 
and  Sidon  at  the  day  of  judgment,  than  foi 
N  3 


142  THE  FOLLY  OF  NEGLECTING 

you."1  The  name  of  Christ  has  been  proclaimed 
to  you  ;  but  if  you  neglect  him,  you  had  better 
never  have  heard  that  name,  which  gladdens  the 
hosts  of  the  redeemed.  The  love  of  God  has 
been  displayed  to  you ;  but  while  you  neglect 
his  Son,  has  been  displayed  in  vain.  Though 
the  Father  has  done  so  much  to  bless  you,  you 
are  still  lost.  Though  the  Son  has  suffered  so 
much  for  you,  you  are  still  unforgiven  and  un- 
changed. Though  the  Spirit  has  manifested 
such  kindness  to  you,  you  reject  all  by  slighting 
the  Saviour,  to  whom  he  would  lead  you,  and 
thus  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  all  this 
mischief  will  soon  be  irreparable.  Your  blessings 
changed  to  curses,  will  be  curses  to  eternity.  The 
blood  of  Christ  imparting  to  you  no  salvation, 
will  be  on  you  to  aggravate  your  everlasting  con- 
demnation. Days  and  years  will  have  been  given  in 
vain  to  you  ;  the  last  will  have  departed  and  left 
you  in  your  sins.  Heaven,  once  within  your 
reach,  will  be  for  ever  closed  against  you ;  and 
escape  from  hell  once  easy  and  sure,  will  for 
ever  be  impracticable.  What  might  you  be  if 
you  listened  to  the  Saviour  ?  A  child  of  God  and 
an  heir  of  happiness  !  What  will  you  make  your- 
self by  slighting  him?  A  child  of  wrath,  an  heir 
of  ruin,  an  inhabitant  of  hell ! 

19.  In  neglecting  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
Salvation,  you  neglect  the  only  Saviour  and  the 
only  Salvation  that  can  benefit  your  immortal 
spirit.  Were  there  another  Saviour,  and  another 
salvation,  this  guilt  and  folly  would  not  be  so  ap- 
palling ;  but  there  is  no  other  God  to  pity  you 
if  you  slight  the  grace  the  God  of  the  gospel 

(l)  Matt.  xi.  22. 


MAN'S   ONLY  SAVIOUR.  143 

has  manifested  :  there  is  no  other  Saviour  to 
die  for  you,  if  you  slight  him  who  suffered  on 
Calvary  ;  there  is  no  other  heaven  open  to  you, 
if  you  neglect  that  to  which  he  would  raise  you ; 
there  is  no  other  deliverance  from  the  power 
and  malice  of  Satan,  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
and  from  eternal  death,  *if  you  slight  that  the 
gospel  exhibits.  Were  there  but  one  physician 
that  could  relieve  a  sick  man,  how  foolish  would 
it  be  to  slight  that  one  !  Were  there  but  one 
arm  strong  enough  to  help  an  endangered  man, 
what  madness  would  it  be  to  slight  that  one  ! 
Ah  !  there  is  but  one  physician  that  can  cure  your 
dying  soul !  There  is  but  one  arm  strong 
enough  to  help  you  from  death  to  life,  from  ruin 
to  heaven ;  and  but  one  short  life,  in  which  to 
receive  the  life  that  never  ends.  Slight  that  one 
physician,  and  all  cure  is  hopeless ;  neglect 
that  one  arm,  and  all  help  is  impossible  ;  waste  that 
one  short  life,  and  life  eternal  is  for  ever  lost ; 
do  this,  and  where  for  you  ere  long  can  help  be 
found  !  The  universe  cannot  furnish  it,  and  thou, 
great  God,  wilt  not. 

20.  As  neglect  of  Christ  robs  you  of  all  good, 
and  does  to  your  deathless  soul  irreparable  mis- 
chief, so  it  exposes  you  to  evils  numerous,  most 
dreadful  and  unavoidable.  Not  one  lasting  good 
can  be  possessed  by  you ;  not  one  evil  shunned. 
Your  state  will  be  ere  long  wholly  evil,  and 
eternally  evil.  If  you  could  be  partly  happy, 
partly  holy,  your  condition  were  not  so  deplora- 
ble, but  without  Christ  you  can  have  no  happi- 
ness, no  holiness,  no  God,  no  Saviour,  no  heaven. 
Not  one  sin  is  forgiven  you !  No  mercy  is  found 
by  you  !  No  blessing  is  waiting  for  you  !     Eter- 


i44  NEGLECT  OF  CHRIST  EXPOSES 

nity  is  before  you,  but  no  good  for  all  eternity. 
You  are  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb,  for  of  neglectors  it  is  said,  "  How  shall 
we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  a  salvation."1 
"  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  living  God."2  "  Those  mine  enemies  that 
would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring 
them  hither  and  slay  them  before  me."5  How 
awful  will  be  that  wrath,  when  love  is  changed  to 
wrath !  and  mercy  to  vengeance !  while  you 
have  no  Saviour.  Who  is  your  Father?  The 
wicked  one.  Mr.  Whitfield  relates,  that  a  mi- 
nister visiting  a  young  woman  near  death, 
said  to  her,  "  Where  do  you  hope  to  go  when 
joudie."  She  answered,  "  I  do  not  care  where  I 
go."  "  What,"  said  he,  "  do  not  you  care  whether 
you  go  to  heaven  or  hell  ?"  "  No,"  she  replied,  "  I 
do  not  care  whither  I  go."  "  But,"  said  he,  "  if  it 
were  put  to  your  choice,  where  would  you  go  ?" 
Her  awful  answer  was,  "  To  hell."  "  Are  you 
mad  ?"  said  he  ;  "  will  you  go  to  hell  ?"  She 
answered,  "  Yes,  I  will."  "  Why  so  !"  he  ex- 
claimed. "  Why,"  said  she,  "  all  my  relations  are 
there."  O  reader,  think  that  while  you  are  un- 
converted, your  eternal  relations  are  there. 
"  Your  father,  the  devil,  is  there  ;"  infernal  spirits 
and  lost  souls ;  "  your  brothers  and  sisters  are 
there  ;"  and  you,  while  careless,  are  hastening 
to  join  them. 

21.  Perhaps  you  treat  these  warnings  with  in- 
difference ;  but  "  what  shall  the  end  be  of  them 
that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  God  ?"  Indifference 
cannot  bless  you,  nor  carelessness  alleviate  your 
ruin  ;  for  the  end  is  coming.     Pretending  to  fear 

(Jj  tleh.  ii.  3.  (2)  Heb.  x.  31.  (3)  Luke,  xix.  27. 


THE  SOUL  TO  NUMBERLESS  EVILS.  145 

nothing  will  not  prove  you  happy,  or  make  you 
safe.  On  the  verge  of  bankruptcy  some  have 
seemed  most  prosperous  ;  and  on  the  edge  of  hell 
many  a  miserable  sinner  has  been  careiess  and 
cheerful  :  but  the  end  was  at  hand.  What  will 
the  end  of  neglect  be  ?  What  to  you  ?  Con- 
science, now  asleep,  will  then  awake  to  all  the 
horrors  of  remorse.  Satan,  now  an  unseen 
tempter,  will  then  be  a  visible  tormentor.  Sin, 
now  beloved  by  you,  will  then  bite  like  a  ser- 
pent, and  sting  like  an  adder.  Departed  hours 
of  sinful  merriment  will  come  to  mind  again ; 
but,  O,  how  changed  will  they  appear!  What 
hours  of  guilt  and  madness !  Sinful  compa- 
nions, now  desired  associates  in  folly,  will  then 
seem  more  like  devils  than  friends  !  Oh,  think 
of  this  when  slighting  Christ;  when  quenching 
the  Spirit;  when  running  into  sin  ;  when  revel- 
ling with  the  vain  and  the  worldly ;  think  of  the 
end !  What  shall  the  end  be  ?  Then  how 
changed  too  will  be  the  sinner's  views  of  mercy 
now  abused  ! 

Even  when  dying,  an  alarmed  neglector  said, 
"  O  !  that  I  had  been  wise,  that  I  had  known  this, 
that  I  had  considered  my  latter  end  !  Death  is 
knocking  at  my  doors  :  in  a  few  hours  more  I 
shall  draw  my  last  gasp  ;  and  then  judgment,  the 
tremendous  judgment !  how  shall  I  appear,  un- 
prepared as  I  am,  before  the  all-knowing  and 
omnipotent  God  !  How  shall  I  endure  the  day 
of  his  coming !  O  !  that  holiness  is  the  only 
thing  I  now  long  for.  I  have  not  words  to  tell 
you  how  highly  I  value  it.  I  would  gladly  part 
with  all  my  estate,  large  as  it  is,  or  a  world,  to 
obtain  it.     Now  my  benighted  eyes  are  enlight- 


146  THE  READER  ENTREATED  TO 

ened  ;  I  clearly  discern  the  things  that  are  excel . 
lent.  What  is  there  in  the  place  whither  I  am 
going  but  God  !  Or  what  is  there  to  be  desired 
on  earth  but  religion  !  O  !  if  the  righteous  Judge 
would  try  me  once  more;  if  he  would  but  re- 
prieve, and  spare  me  a  little  longer  ;  in  what  a 
spirit  would  I  spend  the  remainder  of  my  days  ! 
But,  alas !  why  do  I  amuse  myself  with  fond 
imaginations  ?  The  best  resolutions  are  now  in- 
significant, because  they  are  too  late." 

If  the  prospect  of  death  produces  such  a  change 
of  view,  what,  when  the  last  conflict  has  ended, 
will  be  the  feelings  of  millions,  when  all  the  ef- 
fects of  neglecting  Christ  are  seen,  are  felt  !  One 
may  exclaim,  "  Woe  is  me  !  Did  I  think  of  this 
when  I  laughed  at  piety,  and  treated  all  its  bless- 
ings with  contempt!"  Another:  "Did  I  look 
for  this  end  when  I  slighted  the  admonitions  of 
pious  parents,  and  all  their  entreaties  to  seek 
God  and  happiness!"  A  third  :  "Alas!  was  I 
hastening  to  this  ruin  when  I  refused  to  listen  to 
the  Saviour's  voice  ;  when  I  talked  of  liberty  and 
followed  pleasure!  Was  this  the  liberty  I 
chose  !  and  this  the  pleasure  to  which  I  hasten- 
ed !  Miserable  wretch  !  God  called,  and  I  re- 
fused !  now  I  eat  the  fruit  of  my  own  ways,  and 
am  filled  with  my  own  devices !"  O  reader, 
could  you  feel,  for  one  moment,  what  it  is  to  be 
lost,  with  the  full  sense  of  being  lost  for  eternity; 
could  you  longer  neglect  the  Saviour  ?  Not  to 
have  one  mercy,  not  to  be  one  moment 
safe!  Oh,  what  a  condition!  Are  you  then 
willing  to  flee  from  poverty,  sin,  hell,  to  the  arms 
of  heavenly  mercy  ?  Would  it  be  madness,  if 
starving,  to  refuse  an  estate  ?  if  drowning,  to  refuse 


CONSIDER  THE  END  OF  A  SINFUL  COURSE.     147 

help  ?  would  it  be  distraction  to  run  into  a  burn- 
ing volcano  ?  to  go  unarmed  into  a  lion's  den  ? 
to  throw  yourself  in  a  tiger's  path  ?  It  is  worse 
distraction  to  slight  a  gracious  Saviour's  love  ; 
and  by  doing  so  to  bring  huge,  intolerable,  and 
everlasting  evils  upon  your  soul.  And  to  do 
this  when  time  with  you  is  already  so  far  spent; 
when  eternity  is  so  near ;  when  the  rewards  of 
sin  are  so  poor ;  and  when  salvation  must  be 
found  now  or  never.  Compared  with  salvation 
nothing  deserves  regard.  Life  to  the  condemned, 
help  to  them  in  a  house  on  fire,  food  to  the  dying, 
are  not  worthy  to  be  named  in  comparison  with 
this  blessing.  If  you  were  condemned,  or  in  the 
midst  of  flames,  how  welcome  would  be  deliver- 
ance ;  but  this  salvation  is  more  worthy  of  ac- 
ceptance ;  and  will  you  neglect  this  ? 

22.  In  addition  to  all  that  has  been  already 
urged,  it  is  an  awful  consideration,  that 
while  you  neglect  the  Lord  Jesus  you  are  actu- 
ally associated  in  dreadful  rebellion  against  God 
with  all  the  vilest  of  mankind,  and  with  all  the 
evil  beings  in  the  universe ;  and  thus  must  live 
and  die  laden  with  horrid  ingratitude.  You 
may  not  be  an  infidel;  but  with  infidels  are  a 
rebel  against  God.  You  may  not  be  a  murderer; 
but  with,  murderers  must  be  classed  now  and 
will  have  your  future  portion.  You  may  not  be 
lewd,  or  dishonest,  or  a  drunkard,  or  profane  ; 
but  you  belong  to  the  same  miserable  fami'y,  as 
all  the  lewd,  and  drunken,  and  profane,  and  dis- 
honest. You  are  not  a  devil;  out,  while  an  im- 
penitent sinner,  with  devils  are  a  rebel  against 
God.  Thus  with  them  you  are  united  in  sin  and 
in  conduct,  and  soon,  unless  grace  happily  deli- 


148   HATEI'ULNESS  OF  NEGLECT  OF  CHRIST. 

ver  you,  will  be  united  with  them  in  misery.  O 
reader,  how  wretched  and  how  odious  is  such  a 
character !  how  hateful  must  you  be  in  the  sight 
of  all  God's  holy  and  devoted  subjects  !  How 
hateful  while  unwilling-  to  yield  to  so  good  a 
God,  to  so  kind  a  Saviour  !  and  if  you  continue 
what  you  are,  this  will  mark  your  character  for 
ever.  Hereafter  you  will  be  known  as  one  so 
wicked,  that  you  would  not  yield  to  God.  This 
will  be  known  in  the  day  of  awful  judgment. 
The  mask  of  delusion  or  deception  will  then  be 
torn  away.  All  the  excuses  you  now  form  for 
your  guilty  neglect,  will  have  vanished  like  a 
dream.  The  cause  of  your  neglect  of  all  that  is 
good,  will  appear  to  have  been  the  vileness  of  your 
own  depraved  heart ;  and  you  will  stand  before 
the  universe  branded  with  the  guilt  of  refusing 
to  love  your  God  and  the  Saviour.  Even  in  the 
abyss  of  despair  you  will  be  known  as  one  that 
would  not  love  God.  Thus,  if  you  continue 
neglectful,  laden  with  ingratitude  and  sin,  you 
must  live.  While  you  live,  could  angels  weep 
they  might  weep  over  you.  "  There,"  it  might 
be  said,  "is  an  immortal  being  that  should  be 
aspiring  to  heaven,  grovelling  in  the  mire,  with 
but  one  span  of  time  for  mercy,  yet  wasting  that 
one;  invited  to  everlasting  lifetyet  utterly  careless 
of  the  invitation  ;  possessed  of  an  immortal  spirit 
to  which  God  is  most  kind,  and  himself  most 
cruel." 

Under  this  load  you  must  die.  When  your  last 
hour  arrives  it  may  be  said,  "  there  lies  and 
dies  one  to  whom  God  has  given  a  thousand 
mercies,  but  who  has  abused  them  all.  The 
blessings  that  should  have  trained  that  departing 


LIFE   OR  DEATH   BEFORE   YOU.  149 

spirit  for  heaven,  have  all  been  bestowed  in  vain ; 
and  now  that  unprepared  and  long-neglected  soul 
is  going,  covered  with  guilt,  to  its  final  account, 
and  to  its  direful  home."  And  when  you  are  in 
the  grave  it  may  be  said,  "  There  lies  one  who 
enjoyed  through  many  years  the  means  of  grace 
and  the  tidings  of  mercy,  but  who  went  down 
into  the  dwelling  of  the  dead  unpardoned  and 
unchanged.  That  poor  dust  once  loved  the 
world,  and  for  it  slighted  eternal  good.  The 
world  has  left  that  dust  to  moulder  there  till  the 
resurrection  day,  insensible  of  pleasure  or  of  pain  ; 
and  the  ruined  soul  that  once  inhabited  that 
mouldering  dust,  is  gone  where  griefs  for  ever 
live,  and  sorrows  for  ever  multiply,  and  remorse 
for  ever  reigns,  and  darkness  and  despair  for 
ever  dwell.  O  miserable  purchase!  O  foolish 
choice  !  that  gained  some  trifles  from  the  world, 
and  ruined  a  deathless  soul  V 

23.  Reader,  life  or  death  are  before  you,  accord- 
ing as  you  regard  or  slight  the  mighty  Saviour. 
''  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  this  day 
against  you,  that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and 
death,  blessing  and  cursing ;  therefore  choose 
life."1  If  you  continue  to  neglect  Christ  your 
doom  must  be  death  and  only  death.  O  choose 
not  death  but  life!  Welcome  now  the  long-neg- 
lected Saviour!  and  how  different  will  be  your 
state !  He  will  blot  out  your  sins,  and  enrich  you 
with  every  good.  Then  it  shall  be  said,  "The 
eternal  God  is  thy  Refuge,  and  underneath  are 
he  everlasting  arms."2  His  broad  shield  is  ever 
over  thee,  and  his  love  will  for  ever  bless  thee, 
ihe  promise  belongs  to  you,  "  Fear  not:  for   I 

(1)  Deut.  xxx.  19.  (2)  Daut  xxxiii.  27. 

O 


150      BLESSED  EFFECTS  OF  RECEIVING  CHRIST. 

have  redeemed  thee,  I  have  called  thee  by  thy 
name ;  thou  art  mine.  When  thou  passes! 
through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee  :  and 
through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow  thee  : 
when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thou  shalt 
not  be  burned ;  neither  shall  the  flame  kindle 
upon  thee.  For  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,  thy  Saviour."1  The  Saviour 
of  myriads  will  then  be  your  Saviour  and  your 
Shepherd.  The  good  Shepherd's  care  will  bless 
you  ;  and  you  may  say,  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shep- 
herd ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie 
down  in  green,  pastures :  he  leadeth  me  beside 
the  still  waters.  He  restoreth  my  soul:  he 
leadeth  me  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  his 
name's  sake."2  He  will  guard  you  and  fulfil  the 
promise ;  "  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake 
thee."  He  will  keep  you  and  train  you  for  hea- 
ven ;  he  will  enable  you  to  subdue  your  corrup- 
tions and  lead  you  to  immortal  life.  What  now 
is  your  inheritance  ?  the  home  that  angels  have, 
the  heaven  that  they  enjoy.  Who  are  now  your 
future  companions  ?  all  the  first-born  sons  of 
light!  all  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect! 
all  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven.  They 
loved  the  Saviour,  and  they  followed  him. 
Their  dwelling  will  be  yours,  if  their  Lord  is 
yours.  And  will  you  not  be  his  ?  Then  your 
character,  which  else  would  have  been  for  ever 
hateful,  will  be  for  ever  lovely :  will  shine  in 
a  fair  though  humble  resemblance  of  your 
Lord's,  and  thus  will  shine  for  ever.  Choose 
then  tli is  day  whose  you  will  be,  and  whom  you 
will  serve. 

(1)  Is.  xliii.  1—3.  (2)  Psalm,  xxiii.  1-3. 


ALL  MUST  DIE.  151 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

RELIGION      ENFORCED      BY     THE     SOLEMNITIES     OF 
DEATH  AND  JUDGMENT. 

1.  When  the  scriptures  describe  the  spirit 
and  conduct  of  the  early  disciples  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  they  are  represented  as  those,  who  were 
ivaiting  for  the  Son  of  God  from  heaven  ;x  who 
were  looking  for  the  Saviour  ;s  who  loved  his 
appearing-;3  and  who  thus  were  familiar  with 
the  solemnities  of  death  and  eternity.  Insuffi- 
cient attention  to  these  solemn  subjects,  lowers 
the  piety  even  of  the  pious;  and  keeps  from  safety 
and  peace  many  that  might  otherwise  be  led, 
by  the  impressive  sense  of  their  dying  condition, 
to  seek  eternal  good.  It  cannot  then  be  unap- 
propriate,  while  pressing  heartfelt  piety  on  your 
devout  attention,  in  addition  to  the  many  allu- 
sions to  these  solemn  subjects,  contained  in  the 
preceding  pages,  more  expressly  to  beg  your 
attention  to  them.  O  regard  them  as  solemn 
motives,  for  the  unhesitating  and  unfeigned 
consecration  of  yourself  to  him,  who  hath 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light.  "It  is 
appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after 
death  the  judgment."4  All  must  die,  but  a  wide 
difference  exists  in  death.  Many  die  unforgiven, 
unchanged,    unblest,   unprepared    for    eternity. 

(1)  1  Thess.  i.  10.  (2)  Phi),  iii.  20.  (3)  2  Tim.  i.  1,  2. 

(4)  Heb.  ix.  27. 


152      CHRIST  ALL  IN   ALL  IN  A  DYING  HOUR. 

This  is  the  case  with  all  who  die  uninterested 
in  the  Saviour's  grace.  But  his  friends  die, 
some  peacefully,  some  exultingly,  all  safely. 
They  die  forgiven,  renewed,  and  blest.  How 
will  you  die  ? 

2.  You  must  die,  and  the  dying  hour  must 
inspire  feelings  unknown  before ;  the  value  of 
the  Saviour,  and  the  worth  of  the  blessings  of 
his  grace,  will  never  be  fully  known  till  then. 
Christ  is  all  in  all  for  the  day  of  death.  His 
love  cheers  with  immortal  hopes  life's  last 
solemn  hours.  How  solemn  is  the  dying  hour ! 
The  body  sinking  under  the  violence  of  disease. 
The  powers  of  nature  rapidly  failing.  The  pulse 
fluttering  and  about  to  stop  for  ever.  The  spirit 
just  going  to  take  its  everlasting  flight.  Mourn- 
ing friends  surrounding  the  dying  sufferer,  and 
observing  with  breathless  silence  the  last  strug- 
gles Of  mortality.  And  ministering  angels,  or 
infernal  spirits,  as  unseen  visitants,  watching  near 
the  dying  pillow.  Perhaps  some  violent  con- 
vulsion seizes  the  sufferer,  and  the  struggle  is 
soon  over.  Perhaps,  while  the  soul  retains  all  its 
consciousness,death  steals  gradually  upon  its  mor- 
tal tabernacle.  The  coldness  of  the  grave  seizes 
the  hands  and  the  feet.  Now  speech  fails.  Now 
sight  is  gone.  Now  the  breathing  becomes 
weaker,  and  weaker,  and  weaker.  At  length  the 
heart  ceases  to  throb,  and  all  the  tale  of  life  is 
over.  What  are  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of 
an  immortal  spirit  in  such  a  situation  !  what  its 
views  of  a  life  of  sin!  what  of  a  life  of  poverty 
or  comfort !  what  of  a  life  of  piety !  Can 
language  describe  what  its  feelings  must  be,  re- 
specting the  unutterable  vanity  of  every  posses- 


HIS   FAVOUR  A  SUFFICIENT  SUPPORT.         153 

sion  and  every  pursuit  excepting  heartfelt  reli- 
gion !  A  pious  lady  adding  a  few  lines  to  a  letter 
she  had  begun,  but  which  the  approach  of  death 
prevented  her  completing,  wrote,  "  I  fear  I  can- 
not finish.  O  my  dear  friends,  if  you  knew 
what  thoughts  I  have  now,  you  would  see  as  I 
do,  that  the  whole  business  of  life  is  preparation 
for  death,     ^et  it  be  so  with  you." 

Solemn  as  is  the  dying  hour,  the  presence 
and  support  of  the  Saviour  are  sufficient  to  im- 
part strong  consolation.  An  aged  minister, 
eminent  in  his  day,  being  at  the  funeral  of  one 
more  eminent,  a  friend  said  to  him,  "  Well,  Dr. 
Grovesnor,  you  have  seen  the  end  of  Dr.  Watts, 
and  you  will  soon  follow  :  what  think  you  of 
death  ?"  "  Think  of  it,"  he  replied,  "  Why,  when 
death  comes,  I  shall  smile  upon  death,  if  God 
smiles  upon  me."  A  dying  Christian  said,"  O  the 
joys  I  feel !  my  heavenly  Father  is  carrying  me 
to  heaven  in  his  arms ;  I  am  going  thither  on  a 
bed  of  roses.  I  feared  this  hour,  lest  my  pains 
should  extort  an  impatient  word,  or  cause  that 
I  should  seem  to  be  uneasy  under  his  hand  ;  J 
nave  often  wished  to  die  praising  God ;  how 
kind  is  he  who  gives  me  leave  to  do  so !  trust 
my  God;  he  will  not  fail  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  him.     O  the  comforts  I  feel."1 

Suppose  yourself  just  about  to  die.  Before 
you  stretches  an  immeasurable  eternity.  Be- 
hind you  is  the  now  ending  span  of  time. 
What  now  to  you  are  friends,  possessions,  plea- 
sures !  All  that  once  agitated,  pained,  or  pleased, 
is  vanity  ;  but  the  Saviour's  love  assumes  new 
importance.     He  now  is  all  in  all.     If  you  have 

(1)  Thos.  Revnolds. 

o3" 


154     WORTH  OF  CHRIST'S  FAVOUR  TO  THE  DEAD. 

him,  you  nave  every  thing ;  without  him  nothing. 
Suppose  yourself  just  launched  into  eternity. 
The  scenes  of  time  are  ended ;  you  have  closed 
your  eyes  to  open  them  on  earth  no  more ;  the 
latest  pang  is  over  •,  the  last  conflict  finished, 
and  eternal  scenes  have  opened  upon  you, 
What  now  appear  the  world,  youth,  health, 
prosperity,  pleasure  !  what  idle  dreams  !  what 
now  are  friends,  whose  love  once  seemed  almost 
as  important  to  your  comfort  as  life  itself!.  It  is 
nothing  now.  What  now  are  earthly  posses- 
sions, comforts,  or  sorrows !  They  are  equally 
and  infinitely  insignificant.  Whether  your  way 
was  painful  or  pleasing,  matters  nothing  now  ! 
Whether  reproach  or  honour,  wealth  or  poverty, 
were  your  lot,  is  all  one  now.  Nothing  now 
avails  you  any  thing  but  Christ.  All  you  want 
is  in  him.  The  frowns  or  smiles  of  mankind 
no  longer  concern  you  ;  all  depends  on  his.  If 
he  smile  none  can  frown  ;  if  he  frown  none  can 
smile.  Who  can  reject  you  if  he  welcome  ! 
who  can  welcome  if  he  rejects  you  !  In  that 
hour,  at  the  furthest  not  very  distant,  how  much 
you  will  desire  the  blessings  of  the  gospel ! 

The  closing  of  the  scenes  of  time,  is  to  every 
soul,  the  commencement  of  unutterable  solemn- 
ities. When  absent  from  the  body,  you  will  be 
present  with  the  Lord,  or  numbered  with  the 
lost. 

3.  The  solemnities  of  eternal  judgment  should 
prompt  you  to  surrender  yourself  to  the  Saviour. 
None  can  conceive  what  will  be  the  solemnity, 
the  joy,  or  the  terror  of  the  great  day.  Nor 
are  the  scriptural  statements  on  this  subject 
poetical  figures,  but  a  description  of  solemn 


ETERNAL  JUDGMENT.  155 

facts.  "The  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  arch- 
angel, and  the  trump  of  God."1  "The  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his 
mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance 
on  them  that  know  not  God."  He  shall  come 
to  be  admired  in  his  saints,  and  glorified  in  all 
them  that  believe.*  "  The  trumpet  shall  sound, 
and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible."1 
"  When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  glory, 
and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he 
sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory  :  and  before  him 
shall  be  gathered  all  nations ;  and  he  shall  se- 
parate them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd 
divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats  ;  and  he  shall 
set  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on 
the  left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  to  them  on  his 
right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  in- 
herit the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  Then  shall  he  say  also 
unto  them  on  the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye 
cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  de- 
vil and  his  angels.  And  these  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment;  but  the  righteous 
into  life  eternal."*  According  to  these  infallible 
testimonies  the  archangel  will  descend ;  the 
trumpet  will  proclaim  the  Judge's  coming  ;  and 
such  a  sound  be  heard  through  all  the  regions  of 
this  lower  creation,  that,  compared  with  it,  the 
shouts  of  an  assembled  world,  or  the  roar  of  ten 
thousand  thunders,  would  be  stillness ;  for  all 
mankind  will  hear.  The  Lord  will  then  visibly 
descend.     He  will  come  with  his  mighty  angels 

(1)  Thess.  ir.  16.        (i)  *  Thess.  i.  6.      (3)  1  Cor.  xt.  51 
(4)  Matt.  xxv.  31,  &c.  &c. 


156  THE    SOLEMNITIES    OF 

in  flaming  fire.  He  will  come  in  the  glory  of 
his  Father,  and  in  his  own.  He  cometh  with 
ten  thousands  of  his  saints.  Now  "  all  that  are 
in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth,  they  that  have  done  good  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the 
resurrection  of  damnation."1  The  righteous  rise 
to  glory,  honour,  and  immortality  ;  but  the  un- 
righteous also  hear  his  voice.  In  their  case  that 
which  "was  sown  in  corruption,  rises  in  incorrup- 
tion,"  that  it  may  endure  a  death  that  can  never 
die.  That  which  "  was  sown  in  dishonour,"  rises 
to  dishonour  more  aggravated,  "  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt."  That  which  "  was  sown  in 
weakness,  is  raised  in  power ;"  strong  to  endure 
immortal  misery.  That  which  was  sown  a  natu- 
ral body,  rises  a  spiritual  body,  to  become  the 
accursed  dwelling  of  that  immortal  spirit  that 
prostituted  its  powers  on  earth  to  folly,  vanity, 
and  guilt. 

4.  The  scenes  of  final  judgment  advance,  and, 
amidst  their  solemnities,  "the  heavens  pass  away 
with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  melt 
with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works 
that  are  therein  are  burnt  up!"2  O,  reader  !  in 
meditation  anticipate  this  day !  View  it  as  come ! 
Think  you  hear  the  cry,  "  The  great  day  of  his 
wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  !" 
The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  have  ceased  to  shine  ! 
The  heavens  have  passed  away.  The  cares  and 
businesses,  the  pursuits  and  delights  of  earth  have 
vanished  like  a  dream.  The  tumults  of  nations, 
the  contentions  of  statesmen,  the  voice  of  the 
bridegroom  and  of  the  bride,  of  joy  or  of  weep- 

(1)  John,  ▼.  28.  (2)  2  Peter,  iii.  10. 


THE  JUDGMENT  DAY.  157 

ing,  are  heard  no  more.  The  oath  is  sworn  that 
time  shall  be  no  longer,  and  all  its  scenes  are 
ended.  The  dead  are  raised,  the  Judge  is  come. 
There  he  sits  in  majesty,  and  at  his  bar  the  na- 
tions are  collected  to  hear  their  doom.  He  sets 
the  sheep  on  his  right  hand,  and  the  goats  on  his 
left.  The  righteous  meet  him  with  rapture;  the 
unrighteous  are  dragged  before  his  awful  bar. 
"Within  them  gnaws  the  worm  of  conscience  that 
never  dies.  All  appear  in  their  real  character; 
there  is  no  deception  and  no  mistake  here.  There 
is  no  middle  condition.  There  is  no  mingling 
among  the  pious  if  not  pious;  the  ungodly  often 
mingle  with  the  pious  now,  but  not  then.  There 
myriads  of  angels  observe  the  solemn  process, 
and  wait  and  watch  the  conduct  of  their  King. 
Above  opens  the  higher  heaven  to  welcome  his 
redeemed.  Below  burns  the  pit  of  fire  and  dark- 
ness prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,  and 
ready  as  the  prison  of  the  lost.  All  are  about  to 
rise  or  sink  for  ever,  and  you  and  I  are  there. 
Long  has  this  day  been  spoken  of;  long  believed, 
long  disbelieved ;  but  it  is  come.  The  believer 
and  the  infidel  alike  believe  in  it  now.  It  is 
come.  The  last  day  of  man's  probation  is  over, 
and  all  are  assembled  for  their  eternal  doom. 
It  is  come.  The  Judge  is  seen ;  how  different 
from  what  he  once  was  seen  !  how  changed  from 
what  he  then  appeared  !  how  changed  are  all 
his  followers  too  !  and  O  how  changed  his  foes  ! 
Where  is  now  their  unbelief?  their  pride?  their 
haughtiness?  their  scorn?  It  is  come.  Time 
has  rolled  its  last  year,  its  last  hour  away.  This 
day  seemed  slow  to  come;    the  day  of  mercy 


158  TRIUMPH  OF  THE    RIGHTEOUS. 

lasted  long-,  but  it  is  over,  and  this  judgment 
day  is  come. 

5.  The  Judge  eternal  now  pronounces  man's 
unchanging  doom.  Fie  says  to  them  on  his 
right  hand,  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  in- 
herit the  kingdom  prepared  for  you,  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world."  He  owns  their  hum- 
ble services  of  faith  and  love  ;  and  according  to 
his  solemn  promise,  confesses  them  who  con- 
fessed him.  O,  sweet  words  of  eternal  life  I 
they  are  pronounced,  and  suspense,  and  doubt, 
and  fear  are  vanished  for  ever.  Now,  indeed, 
the  righteous  come  to  Zion  with  everlasting  joy 
upon  their  heads  ;  now,  indeed,  sorrow  and  sigh- 
ing are  fled  away.  What  a  recompense  is  this 
for  tears,  and  toils,  and  sorrows !  What  thinks 
the  Christian  now  of  these  !  The  Saviour  allow- 
ed his  followers  once  to  toil  in  sorrow  and  per- 
secution ;  but  now  he  changes  toil  to  rest,  and 
sorrow  to  unending  joy  !  He  let  them  endure 
grief;  but  now  he  gives  the  crown  of  life  and 
honour.  The  great  day  of  wrath  is  no  day  of 
wrath  to  them  ;  no  fears,  no  alarm,  will  now  dis- 
turb their  tranquillity  more.  Many  of  them  toiled 
in  poverty,  and  were  afflicted  and  trodden  down 
of  men ;  but  all  this  is  past.  Their  conflicts 
are  changed  for  the  victor's  palm.  What  will 
be  the  humble  Christian's  feelings  while  gazing 
on  his  Judge  ?  "  This  is  he  to  whom  I  fled  ! 
This  is  he  after  whom  I  struggled,  at  times  with 
almost  fainting  steps !  This  is  he  whom  the 
world  would  fain  have  had  me  leave  !  This  is 
he  to  whom  my  heart  was  devoted  !  This  is  he, 
about  an  interest  in  whose  love  I  often  felt  pain- 
ful anxiety ;  but  he  is  come,  and  I  am  his.     I 


DOOM  OF  THE    UNRIGHTEOUS.    '  159 

know  it  now,  and  anxiety  and  enemies  shall  vex 
me  no  more." 

O  reader,  would  you  be  thus  blessed  ?  If  you 
would,  remember  these  things  are  no  cunningly 
devised  fables  ;  and,  as  in  the  view  of  death  and 
judgment,  now  embrace  unfeigned  religion. 

6.  But  hearken  to  a  different  sentence.  Be- 
hold a  different  scene !  Besides  those  on  the 
right  hand,  there  are  myriads  on  his  left.  "What 
says  the  Judge  to  them  ?  "  Depart  from  me,  ye 
cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels  !"  "  I  never  knew  you,  de- 
part from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity."1  Oh,  the 
horrors  of  that  sentence,  and  of  that  day  !  If  you 
should  be  among  them,  how  will  you  meet  that 
day  ?  What  will  be  the  terror  of  beholding  a 
long-neglected  Judge?  to  see  him  on  whose  de- 
cision hangs  life  or  death  eternal  ?  to  see  him  on 
whose  smile  or  frown  heaven  or  hell  depends  ? 
And  to  recollect  what  he  once  was?  what  he 
once  would  have  been  to  you  ?  and  with  what 
base  neglect  his  love  was  treated  ?  And  what 
will  be  the  terror  connected  with  the  disclosure 
of  unnumbered  ^crimes,  when  "  God  shall  bring 
every  work  into  judgment,  with  every  secret 
ihing?"2  Should  you  die  in  your  sins,  ail  your 
transgressions  will  then  pass  in  direful  review. 
Secret  or  open  guilt  will  alike  be  visible  ;  crimes 
shrouded  in  privacy  and  darkness,  will  be  open 
to  universal  view.  God  says  of  men,  "  They 
consider  not  in  their  hearts  that  I  remember  all 
their  wickedness."3  We  may  forget  our  own  of- 
fences ;  others  may  forget  them ;  multitudes  of 
sins  are  unobserved;  and  multitudes  more  for- 

(1)  Matt.  vii.  23.         (2)  Eccles.  xii.  14.         (3)  Hos  vii.  2. 


160  ALL  MUST  GIVE   ACCOUNT  TO   GOD 

gotten.  Time  weakens  or  wears  out  the  impres- 
sion of  the  evil  of  many  transgressions;  but  God 
remembers  all.  They  glare  always  before  him  in 
all  their  hideous  deformity.  Oh,  if  you  should 
live  careless  of  your  Judge,  and  a  stranger  to  his 
pardoning  grace,  how  will  you  meet  him  then  ? 
"  Every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself 
to  God,"1  but  how  will  you  give  up  that  account  ? 
If  a  prince  were  to  employ  a  servant  to  transact 
some  weighty  business  for  him  in  a  foreign  land, 
and,  on  his  return,  calling  for  his  account,  should 
find  so  much  time  spent  in  singing,  so  much  in 
dancing,  so  much  in  novel-reading,  so  much  at 
the  play-house,  so  much  in  foolish  merriment 
with  gay  companions,  so  many  days  idled  away, 
and  so  many  played  away,  and  the  very  business 
for  which  he  was  sent  entirely  neglected  and  un- 
done, what  would  be  thought  of  such  a  servant? 
Would  not  his  master  justly  cast  him  off  for  ever? 
God  has  entrusted  to  you  talents,  privileges,  and 
mercies  ;  has  given  you  life  that  you  may  glorify 
him,  and  be  prepared  for  everlasting  life.  But 
if  the  great  concerns  of  religion  are  neglected, 
all  this  is  left  undone ;  and  what  must  be  your 
account,  when,  like  the  wicked  and  slothful  ser- 
vant just  described,  you  have  to  render  one  to 
your  injured  Master?  How  will  you  account 
for  your  numberless  sins?  for  abused  mercies? 
for  privileges  neglected  ?  for  admonitions  disre- 
garded ?  for  preferring  trifles  to  God,  Christ,  and 
religion  ?  for  thus  insulting  the  Father,  and  re- 
jecting the  Son,  and  grieving  the  Spirit  ? 

And  what  will  be  the  terror  of  the  wrath  these 
crimes  have  merited  ?     Thousands  of  years  of 

(l)  Rom.  xiv.  12. 


THE  READER  MUST  BE  JUDGED.  '     161 

mercy  will  have  rolled  away,  and  every  sinner  had 
his  day  of  grace  and  mercy,  but  all  will  now  be 
changed  to  vengeance;  to  vengeance  deserved 
for  mercies  abused,  and  for  love  despised  ;  de- 
served for  slighting  God,  neglecting  Christ,  and 
resisting  the  Holy  Ghost.  Patience  will  long 
have  waited  ;  but  patience  will  have  given  place 
to  wrath.  The  Lord  will  render  "  indignation 
and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish,"1  upon  all 
that  have  not  obeyed  the  truth.  "Upon  the 
wicked  he  shall  rain  snares,  fire  and  brimstone, 
and  an  horrible  tempest :  this  shall  be  the  por- 
tion of  their  cup."2  O,  reader,  if  you  continue 
uninterested  in  the  Saviour,  this  will  be  your  lot. 
However  thoughtless  or  unbelieving,  you  must 
appear  before  his  bar.  There  you  will  be  seen 
confounded,  trembling,  and  despairing.  There 
you  will  stand  with  all  the  impure  and  the  pro- 
fligate ;  the  vile  and  the  infernal ;  with  all  the 
monsters  of  iniquity  that  the  earth  ever  bore,  and 
that  meet  there  laden  with  unpardoned  sin. 
The  Judge's  lightnings  will  flash,  and  his  thun- 
der roll ;  you  will  hear  your  doom,  and  that 
doom  will  be  the  damnation  of  hell.  The  doom  of 
that  day  will  be  final.  There  will  be  no  after- 
change.  The  blessed  will  never  be  cursed;  the 
cursed  will  never  be  blessed.  When  man  was 
created,  Satan  entered  Eden,  and  Adam  fell : 
Christ  came  to  earth,  and  the  fallen  rise  ;  but  no 
tempter  will  enter  heaven,  no  Saviour  will  visit 
hell.  Wrath  then  experienced  will  never  be  ap- 
peased. Through  the  days  of  heavenly  mercy, 
the  Saviour  was  full  of  compassion  ;  prayer  was 
heard  and  pardon  given :  but  not  then.     There 

(1)  Rom.  ii.  1.  (2)  Psalm,  xi.  6.    ( 

P 


162       THE  DAY  OF  MERCY  ENDED. 

will  be  no  sacrifice  to  atone  for  unpardoned 
guilt;  no  prevailing  prayer;  no  intercessor. 
The  ungodly  will  cry  to  the  rocks,  "Fall  on  us, 
and  hide  us  from  the  nice  of  him  that  sitteth  on 
the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb."1 
Alas!  vain  refuge!  yet  the  rocks  would  sooner 
hear  their  cry  than  the  inexorable  Judge.  If 
through  irreligion  this  should  be  your  lot,  "  Lord, 
Lord,"  you  may  exclaim,  "  have  mercy  on  me." 
No :  the  day  of  mercy  is  past ;  that  prayer  might 
have  been  heard  once,  but  cannot  be  heard  now. 
The  gate  of  salvation  is  shut,  and  you  and  others 
despairing  cry,  "Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us."  No  : 
the  door  shut  once  never  opens.2  No,  sinner, 
never  !  no,  never  !  Eternal  truth  has  said  it !  no, 
never !  for  you  would  neglect  the  Lord  of  life 
and  salvation ;  you  would  not  be  his  disciple. 
When  the  Lord  invites  you  to  come  to  him  and 
be  happy,  you  can  refuse ;  but  when  he  says, 
Die,  you  cannot  refuse  to  ciie ;  and  when  he 
says,  "  Depart,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire," 
depart  you  must.  Into  that  abyss  may  devils 
drag  you,  and  enmity  to  God  will  make  you 
like  a  devil  there. 

7.  Should  you  be  exposed  to  all  this,  what 
will  you  think  of  the  present  warning?  Should 
you  be  at  his  Left  hand,  or  see  some  you  know 
among  the  blest  and  be  among  the  lost,  what 
bitter  regret  will  then  distress  your  soul  ?  Whan 
joyous  meetings  of  the  saved  will  there  be  on 
that  day  !  What  solemn  partings  where  some 
have  known  Christ,  and  others  slighted  him  ! 
What  solemn  partings  between  neighbours  and 
congregations  !  What  eternal  separations  between 

(1)  Rev.  vi.  16.  (2)  Matt  xxv.  10 


THE   SCENES  OF  JUDGMENT   FINISHED.         163 

fathers  and  sons,  mothers  and  daughters,  friends 
and  companions,  some  ascending  to  glory, 
others  sinking  to  destruction.  Of  the  lost,  whose 
heart  would  not  break  on  that  day,  at  that  sepa- 
ration, if  a  heart  then  could  break  ?  but  that  will 
not  be.  Whatever  your  friends  do,  let  this  be 
your  concern,  to  secure  the  Judge's  welcome  and 
everlasting  life.  But  what  can  give  you  the  cer- 
tainty of  this?  Nothing  but  possessing  an  in- 
terest in  his  salvation.  Then  you  may  indulge 
a  cheerful  confidence,  that,  when  on  his  judg- 
ment throne,  he  will  justify  you  ;  and  who  shall 
condemn  you  ?  That  he  in  effect  will  say,  or 
act  as  if  he  said,  "  This  soul  is  mine.  It  was 
committed  to  my  care.  I  blotted  out  its  trans- 
gression and  guided  its  way.  It  was  mine  in  its 
pilgrimage  on  earth,  and  now  is  mine  for  ever.*' 
Will  this  be  said  of  you  ? 

And  now  the  trumpet  is  hushed.  The  judg- 
ment is  passed.  The  judge  has  left  his  judg- 
ment throne,  and  all  are  gone  to  their  eternal 
abodes.  The  lost  are  howling  in  agony,  and 
wailing  in  despair.  The  blest  have  entered 
their  rest.  Eternity  is  now  their  day.  Its  cloud- 
less sun  has  risen  upon  them.  Its  vast  expanse 
stretches  before  them,  and  is  all  one  scene  of 
rapture,  tranquillity  and  praise.  Their  home  is 
heaven.  Their  father  is  God.  Their  rest  is  with 
him  who  died.  Their  friends  are  the  angel 
hosts,  and  all  the  blood-bought  myriads  of  the 
redeemed.  Their  holiness  is  perfect.  Their  hap- 
piness is  endless.  The  former  things  have  passed 
away.  Reader,  where  is  your  home  ?  where 
will  it  be  for  ever?     Shall  vou  be  one  of  these  ? 


164  CERTAINTY  OF  THE   FINAL  RUIN 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DECISION  IN  THE  CHOICE  OF  RELIGION  URGED  BY 
THE  RUIN  AND  MISERY  THAT  AWAIT  THE  IMPE- 
NITENT. 

1.  An  old  writer  remarks,  that  sermons  con- 
cerning "  hell  may  keep  many  out  of  hell."  Re- 
ligion or  ruin  is  the  only  alternative  presented 
to  you.  Think  not  that  the  most  awful  displays 
of  your  danger,  if  you  are  a  trifler  with  religion, 
are  inconsistent  with  the  indulgence  of  that  spirit 
of  love  which  the  gospel  enjoins.  The  Lord 
Jesus  was  full  of  compassion ;  and  because  he 
was  so,  he  uttered  the  most  awful  representations 
of  future  ruin  which  the  New  Testament  con- 
tains. 

2.  Consider  that  it  is  not  more  certain  that  you 
live,  than  it  is  that  you  will  perish  if  you  do  not 
turn  to  God.  Indulge  not  the  delusive  expecta- 
tion that  God  will  be  less  strict,  and  more  merci- 
ful, than  his  own  word  represents  him  to  be.  God 
is  merciful,  but  he  is  also  just  and  true.  God  is 
a  tender  parent  to  the  penitent  that  seeks  him, 
but  he  is  a  consuming  fire  to  his  enemies. 
Though  to  the  contrite  in  heart,  his  mercy  is  as 
great  as  the  heavens  are  high  above  the  earth  ; 
yet  against  the  impenitent  his  wrath  will  bum  to 
the  lowest  hell.1  A  deception  that  would  bring 
you  to  the  gallows  were  dreadful ;  but  a  decep- 

(1)  Deut.  xxxii.  22. 


OF  THE    IRRELIGIOUS.  165 

tion  that  would  sink  you  to  hell  is  infinitely 
worse.  Be  not  then  deceived,  "  the  unrighteous 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."1  Repeat- 
ing this  solemn  warning  the  inspired  writer, 
when  referring  to  the  works  of  corrupt  nature, 
declares,  "I  tell  you  before,  as  I  have  also  told 
you  in  time  past,  that  they  which  do  such  things 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."2  "  Ex- 
cept ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."3 
Jesus  said,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Mar- 
vel not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  born 
again."4  Thus  there  is  not  a  hope,  unless,  with 
reverence  be  it  spoken,  God  could  prove  false, 
that  you  can  be  saved  without  true  piety.  A 
millstone  will  not  more  surely  sink  when  cast 
into  the  waves,  nor  a  mass  of  lead  thrown  from 
the  top  of  a  precipice  more  surely  fall,  than  you 
will  fall,  and  sink,  and  perish,  if  you  pass 
through  time  a  stranger  to  the  Saviour's  grace. 
The  Father  declares  that  the  impenitent  shall 
die.  The  Son  confirms  the  awful  truth.  The 
old  Testament  and  the  new  repeatedly  inculcate 
the  solemn  sentiment.  The  law  dooms  them, 
and  the  gospel  adds  to  the  awful  doom. 

3.  Consider  the  dreadful  descriptions  which 
are  given  by  the  God  of  truth  respecting  the  sin- 
ner's misery.  A  great  variety  of  the  most  ter- 
rific images  are  employed  to  represent  this  horrid 
ruin.  Hell  is  described  as  "  a  furnace  of  fire," 
into  which  the  unrighteous  are  cast,  where  is 
wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth  ;5  as  "  a  lake  which 

(1)  l  Cor.  vi.  9.        (2)  Gal.  v.  21.        (3)  Luke.  xiii.  3. 
(4)  John,  iii.  5—7.  (o)  Matt.  xiii.  42. 

p3 


166         SCRIPTURAL   DESCRIPTIONS   OF  HELL. 

burnetii  with  fire  and  brimstone  j"1  "the  second 
death  ;"2  as  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ;3  as 
outer  darkness  ;*  as  the  "  blackness  of  darkness 
forever  ;"6  as  "chains  of  darkness  ;"6  as  the  place 
of  torment  where  the  sinner  is  tormented  in  the 
flame  ;7  as  "  wrath  to  come  ;"8  as  "the  bottom- 
less pit;"9  "  the  second  death  ;"10  "destruction;"11 
"everlasting-  fire  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels;"12  "  everlasting  punishment  ;"13  "  a  pri- 
son ;"u  "where  the  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire 
is  not  quenched."15  How  terrific  are  these  de- 
scriptions !  but  what  must  be  the  dreadful  re- 
ality !  As  much  worse  than  any  conceptions  we 
can  now  form  of  such  wretchedness,  as  being 
torn  limb  from  limb  would  be  worse  than  the 
pricking  of  a  pin. 

4.  All  this  indescribably  dreadful  ruin  is  de- 
clared to  be  everlasting.  This  the  scriptures 
solemnly  assert.  "  Many  of  them  that  sleep  in 
the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  ever- 
lasting life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting 
contempt."16  "  He  will  throughly  purge  his 
floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner  ;  but 
will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire."17 
"  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting 
life  :  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not 
see  life  ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."18 
"  These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment ;  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal."19  In 
the  first  of  these  passages,  and  in  the  original  in 

(l)Rev.  xx.  8.  (2)  Rev.  xx.  8.  (3)Jude.7.  (4)  Matt.  xxii.  13. 
(5)  Jude,  13.  (6)  Pet.  ii.  4.  (7)  Luke,  xvi.  23,24.  (8)  1  Thess.  i.  10. 
(9)  Rev.  ix.  2.  (10)  Rev.  ii.  11.  (11)  Matt.  vii.  14. 

(12)  Matt.  xxv.  41.        (13)  Matt.  xxv.  46.        (14)  1  Peter,  iii.  19. 
(  S)  Mark,  ii.  44.  (18)  Dan.  xii.  2.  (17)  Matt.  iii.  12. 

(18)  John,  iii.  35.  (19)  Matt.  xxv.  46. 


FUTURE  PUNISHMENT  ETERNAL.      1D7 

the  last  of  them,  the  same  word  that  describes 
the  unending  nature  of  the  happiness  of  the 
righteous,  is  employed  to  describe  that  of  the 
misery  of  the  lost.  The  Lord  Jesus,  in  what 
precedes  the  solemn  declaration,  "these  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment,"  has  been  re- 
presenting the  scenes  connected  with  man's  final 
doom.  Were  an  earthly  judge  to  address  a 
prisoner,  "  Your  life  or  death  is  now  to  be  deci- 
ded ;  if  convicted  you  must  die,"  would  it  not  be 
deemed  madness  for  the  prisoner  to  slight  the 
means  of  acquittal,  under  the  hope  that  the 
judge  would  not  be  true  to  his  word,  nor  adhere 
to  his  declaration?  And  is  it  not  worse  infatua- 
tion, when  the  Lord  Jesus  declares,  that  the  un- 
righteous shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment, to  indulge  the  hope  that  he  means  a  pe- 
riod of  suffering  infinitely  less  than  eternal. 

"  The  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for 
ever  and  ever."  On  this  expression  D wight  re- 
marks, "  The  phrase  commonly  rendered  '  for 
ever  and  ever,'  is  used,  if  I  mistake  not,  eighteen 
times  in  the  New  Testament.  In  fifteen  instan- 
ces it  is  applied  to  the  continuance  of  the  glory, 
perfections,  government,  and  praise  of  God.  In 
one  (Rev.  xxii.  5.)  it  is  said  of  the  righteous  in 
the  future  world,  that f  they  shall  reign  for  ever 
and  ever.'  In  one  of  the  remaining  two  it  is 
said  of  the  impenitent,  that  is,  of  those  among 
them  who  worship  the  beast  and  his  image,  that 
*  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for 
ever  and  ever.'  In  the  remaining  instance  it  is 
said  of  the  devil,  who  deceived  the  nations,  of 
the  beast,  and  of  the  false  prophet,  that  'in  the 
lake   of  fire   and  brimstone  they  shall   be  tor- 


168        ETERNITY  OF   FUTURE   PUNISHMENT. 

merited  day  and  night  for  ever  and  ever.'  Now 
let  me  ask,  whether  a  man,  even  of  moderate 
understanding-,  could  be  supposed  to  write  with 
scrupulous  integrity  a  system  of  theology,  and 
employ  this  phrase  sixteen  times  to  denote  an 
absolute  eternity,  and  twice  to  denote  that 
which  was  infinitely  different;  while  these  were 
the  only  instances  in  which  the  phrase  was  ap- 
plied to  a  given  subject,  and  that  of  immeasur- 
able importance  to  those  for  whom  he  wrote  ? 
But  if  such  a  man  cannot  be  supposed  thus  to 
use  language,  nor  vindicate  it  when  used  in  this 
manner,  can  such  conduct  be  attributed  safely 
to  the  Spirit  of  God  ?"  Besides  those  passages 
in  which  the  expressions  everlasting,  eternal,  for 
ever  and  ever,  are  employed  to  represent  the  du- 
ration of  the  sufferings  of  the  lost,  there  are  pas- 
sages that  in  other  phraseology  most  solemnly 
assert  the  same  awful  truth.  The  Lord  Jesus, 
admonishing  his  disciples  to  suffer  any  thing  ra- 
ther than  lose  the  soul,  repeats  this  dreadful 
truth  no  less  than  five  times  in  a  few  sentences. 
"  If  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off:  it  is  better 
for  thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed,  than  having 
two  hands  to  go  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never 
shall  be  quenched  :  where  their  worm  dieth  not, 
and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.  And  if  thy  foot 
offend  thee,  cut  it  off:  it  is  belter  for  thee  to  en- 
ter halt  into  life,  than  having  too  feet  to  be  cast 
into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quench- 
ed :  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched.  And  if  thine  eye  offend  thee, 
pluck  it  out :  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  one  eye,  than  having  two 
eyes  to  be  cast  into  hell  fire :   where  their  worm 


THE  POVERTY  OF  A  LOST  SOUL.     169 

dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched."1  Can 
a  warning  be  more  solemn,  or  language  more 
decided,  than  there  "the  fire  never  shall  be 
quenched."  To  these  passages  others  might  be 
added  ;  but  if  these  are  disbelieved,  so  would  all 
the  rest. 

5.  Thus  guided  by  the  infallible  word  of  God, 
consider  the  situation  to  which  those  who  die  in 
irreligion  will  be  reduced.  They  lose  all  present 
good.  When  you  leave  this  world,  you  will  have 
left  for  ever  all  the  comforts  and  pursuits  of  time; 
and  then,  if  you  have  no  neaven  to  welcome  you, 
you  will  be  poor  beyond  expression.  Think  of 
a  lost  soul.  The  poorest  beggar  is  not  so  poor  ; 
the  most  miserable  criminal  not  so  wretched  : 
and  perhaps  even  devils  themselves  not  torment- 
ed with  such  remorse.  In  the  case  of  such  an 
unhappy  creature,  the  satisfactions  of  the  pre- 
sent world  are  all  over.  Its  guilty  pleasures  are 
finished;  its  innocent  comforts  are  ended. 
Whatever  gratification  might  once  be  enjoyed  in 
the  pursuits  of  life  ;  in  friendships,  in  connex- 
ions, in  the  love  of  parents  or  of  children,  all  is 
past.  While  these  continue  the  sinner  may  find 
some  satisfaction  without  the  blessings  of  reli- 
gion ;  but  what  will  he  do  when  these  shall  all 
have  left  him.  An  old  writer2  relates,  that  a 
vain  ungodly  man  was  lying  sleepless  on  his 
bed,  and  being  weary,  and  finding  no  rest,  he 
began  to  think,  would  any  be  hired  to  lie  thus 
for  two  or  three  years  in  darkness  without  friends 
or  amusements  ?  Would  any  one  be  willing  to 
be  bound  to  a  bed,  though  it  were  a  bed  of  down, 
and  never  stir  abroad  ?     And  he  thought,  no  one 

(1)  Mark,  ix.  43—4'-!.  (2)  Drexelius. 


170       ANECDOTE  FROM  DREXELIUS. 

would.  Then  he  reflected,  that  the  time  would 
come,  when  willing-  or  unwilling-  he,  unless 
snatched  away  by  a  sudden  stroke,  must  lie 
upon  a  bed  of  sickness  and  death  ;  and  he 
thought,  "  But  what  bed  shall  I  have  next,  when 
death  shall  thrust  me  out  of  this  ?  My  body 
must  rot  in  the  earth  ;  for  this  is  the  condition  of 
all  men  after  death.  But  what  shall  become  of 
my  soul  in  another  world  ?  Surely  all  men  do  not 
go  to  the  same  place  after  death.  Do  not  some 
go  one  way,  and  some  another  ?  Is  there  not  a 
hell  as  well  as  a  heaven  ?  Woe  and  alas  ! 
What  kind  of  bed  shall  the  damned  find  in 
hell  ?  How  many  years  shall  they  lie  there  ? 
In  what  year  after  their  first  entrance  shall  the 
flames  cease  and  be  put  out?  Assuredly  Christ 
doth  not  only  in  word  threaten  to  cast  the  wick, 
ed  into  everlasting  fire,  but  will  also  cast  them  in 
indeed."  These  thoughts  followed  him,  and  he 
could  not  rest.  Eternity  still  run  in  his  mind. 
He  tried  to  banish  the  solemn  impression  amidst 
companions  and  sinful  delights,  but  in  vain. 
Conscience,  if  seeming  for  a  while  asleep,  soon 
awoke,  and  inflicted  fresh  stings  upon  his  soul. 
He  thought,  "  I  am  not  certain  whether  I  shall 
live  till  to-morrow  or  no  :  daily  funerals  suffi- 
ciently prove  this.  Oh  eternity,  if  thou  wert  not  I 
Oh  eternity,  if  thy  place  be  not  in  heaven, 
though  it  be  on  a  soft  down  bed,  thou  canst  not 
but  be  bitter  and  unpleasant !"  At  length  he 
fled  from  the  paths  of  sin,  and  lived  and  died  a, 
pious  man.  Happy  they  who  thus  seek  the  ways 
of  peace.  The  impenitent,  with  all  their  worldly 
comforts,  will  lose  all  which  in  life  yielded  some 
support.     All  false  hopes  expire.     The  delusive 


STATE  OF  A  LOST  SOUL.         171 

expectations  of  the  wavering  and  the  undecided  , 
of  the  formalist  and  the  self-righteous,  are  no 
more.  Eternity  is  before  them  without  a 
comfort  or  a  blessing:  but  this  is  only  the  be- 
ginning of  sorrows.  "  Hast  thou  seen  this,  O 
son  of  man  !  turn  thee  yet  again,  and  thou  shalt 
see  greater  '  sorrows'  than  these." 

6.  The  sinner  dying  in  his  sins  is  banished 
from  God,  the  only  source  of  light  and  joy.  He 
has  forfeited  his  Creator's  favour  and  love.  In 
the  love  of  God  the  blessed  rejoice  ;  and  in  it 
angels  find  their  heaven ;  but,  unhappy  crea- 
ture !  it  is  lost  to  him.  He  is  exposed  to  his 
Creator's  frown ;  to  the  liveliest  sense  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  whose  frown  is  so  dreadful,  that  a 
dying  profligate  exclaimed,  "  O  thou  blasphem- 
ed, yet  most  indulgent  Lord  God  !  hell  itself  is  a 
refuge,  if  it  hide  me  from  thy  frown."  But  hell 
will  not  hide  the  sinner;  he  must  bear  that 
frown  continually.  There  too  he  feels  not  only 
the  loss  of  all  he  once  loved,  but  the  everlasting 
loss  of  all  the  saints  enjoy.  Does  he  look  to 
heaven  ?  It  is  lost  to  him.  Does  he  think  of 
pious  friends  or  pious  parents  ?  They  are  for 
ever  parted  from  him.  They  dwell  in  life  and 
rapture,  and  he  in  death  and  misery.  Does  he 
think  of  sabbaths  and  seasons  of  mercy  ?  He 
had  them  once,  but  they  are  for  ever  gone  from 
him.  Religious  mercies  are  at  an  end.  All 
that  were  given  to  help  the  soul  tc  heaven,  and 
tbat  were  neglected  and  abused,  have  finished. 
His  state  is  a  state  of  utter  friendlessness.  There 
is  none  to  love  him,  none  to  pity  him,  none  to 
help  him.  Xo  friend  to  cheer  one  hour  in  an 
eternal  night  of  wee ;.  no   merry  companion  to 


172  THE  DREADFUL  CONDITION 

laugh  away  a  single  moment,  or  to  stifle  for  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  the  stings  of  a  tormenting 
conscience.  Around  him  all  are  equally  wretch- 
ed, and  equally  guilty  with  himself.  Among 
the  myriads  of  the  lost,  that  he  may  meet,  the 
crowd  that  once  thronged  the  downward  way  in 
merriment  and  folly,  or  contempt  of  piety  and 
scom  of  God,  he  sees  not  one  cheerful  counte- 
nance. There  are  the  lewd,  but  now  they  gnash 
their  teeth  with  the  companions  of  their  guilt. 
There  is  the  drunkard  ;  once  he  boasted  of  his 
crimes,  but  now  his  boastings  are  changed  to 
wailings,  his  glorying  to  agony.  There  is  the 
swearer  ;  and  all  his  swearing  prayers  are  an- 
swered in  his  utter  condemnation.  There  is  that 
child  of  the  devil,  the  liar,  gone  home  to  his  fa- 
ther's house.  There  are  the  prayerless  ;  once 
they  would  not  pray,  and  the  time  for  prevailing 
prayer  is  passed.  There  is  the  infidel ;  but  he 
now  too  late  believes.  There  is  the  blasphemer, 
now  more  blasphemous.  There  are  players,  but 
no  play-houses  ;  and  lovers  of  dissipation,  but 
no  dissipation  to  please  them.  There  are  the 
opposers  of  humb'e  piety,  who  hated  religion 
upon  earth ;  and  now  with  vain  but  malignant 
hatred,  they  hate  its  Author  more  than  ever. 
There  are  they  who  had  privileges  and  mercies 
in  vain  ;  who  were  once  raised  to  heaven  by 
blessings,  but  are  now  brought  down  to  hell.  For 
them  all  no  Christian  prays.  On  them  no  sab- 
bath shines.  Before  them  no  hopes  bloom.  To 
them  no  mercies  come.  Hope  is  gone..  Mercy 
is  gone.  Grace  is  gone.  Sin  cannot  be  forgiven. 
God  has  forgotten  to  be  gracious.  The  compas- 
sion of  a  Saviour  never  more  will  reach  them. 


OF    A    LOST    SOUL.  173 

There  is  the  horrible  society  of  the  devil  and  his 
angels.  Every  hellish  spirit  for  whom  that 
place  of  woe  was  originally  created,  is  there,  his 
own  tormentor,  and  the  tormentor  of  his  fellow- 
sufferers  and  fellow- rebels.  What  must  such 
society  be!  It  is  heart-rending  to  think  of  it, 
what  will  be  the  woe  of  being  mingled  with  it 
continually  !  There  will  doubtless  be  a  dreadful 
variety  of  miseries  ;  none  of  them  light,  but 
each  of  them  distressful  beyond  present  appre- 
hension. The  eye  will  see  sights  of  woe.  The 
ear  be  open  only  to  shrieks  of  despair,  and  yells 
of  blasphemy  and  misery.  The  immortal  and 
incorruptible  body  will  feel  the  torments  of  the. 
fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched  ;  and  the  lost 
but  immortal  spirit  will  endure  the  worse  tortures 
of  remorse  and  despair  that  never  can  die.  The 
memory  will  torment  the  sinner  while  he  recol- 
lects the  past,  thinks  of  the  sins  which  brought 
him  there,  and  of  the  mercy  which  he  once 
abused,  and  of  the  vanities  for  which  he  sold  his 
soul  and  lost  eternal  life.  Looking  backward, 
he  will  see  amazing  displays  of  divine  grace,  and 
horrid  manifestations  of  his  own  ingratitude  and 
folly.  Apprehensions  for  the  future  will  be  no 
less  tormenting  than  recollections  of  the  past. 
Forward  he  will  see  guilt,  and  gloom,  and  pun- 
ishment, and  darkness,  and  despair;  guilt,  and 
gloom,  and  punishment,  and  darkness,  and  .de- 
spair. And  still  his  prospect  will  be  for  ever 
unchanged  ;  it  will  still  be  guilt,  and  gloom,  and 
punishment,  and  darkness,  and  despair.  All 
these  sorrows  will  be  not  occasional,  but  constant. 
Sorrow  on  earth  has  its  intermissions;  pain  has 
its  hours  of  ease,  or  at  least  of  lighter  pain  :  but 
Q 


174    NO  DELIVERANCE  FOR  LOST  SOULS. 

the  sorrows  of  the  lost  are  unmitigated  and  un- 
intermitting  sorrows.  The  compassionate  Sa- 
viour  has  taught  us  this  dreadful  truth.  He 
describes  a  lost  sinner  as  soliciting  the  smallest 
possible  alleviation  of  misery ;  not  a  day's  deli- 
verance, not  an  hour's  ease ;  he  only  prays,  "  Send 
Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in 
water  and  cool  ray  tongue,  for  I  am  tormented  in 
this  flame."  What  could  be  less?  what  allevi- 
ation more  trifling  ?  what  intermission  of  misery 
more  insignificant?  yet  even  this  was  too  much 
to  be  granted  to  a  lost  soul.  The.  answer  not  only 
contained  a  refusal,  but  declared  that  such  alle- 
viation was  impossible. 

7.  How  awful  is  the  change  from  earthly  com- 
forts to  this  deep  poverty  !  From  the  family 
circle,  or  the  company  of  gay  associates,  to  the 
utter  friendlessness  of  hell !  From  privileges 
once  abounding,  to  the  dwellings  of  despair ! 
From  having  a  Saviour  displayed,  to  the  hope- 
lessness of  unceasing  and  unmitigated  wretch- 
edness and  ruin.  For  all  this  heart-breaking 
load  is  not  transient,  but  eternal.  The  prison  of 
the  lost  is  an  everlasting  prison.  Earthly  prisons 
cannot  long  detain  their  captives  ;  time  rolls  by, 
and  if  none  else  open  the  prison  doors,  death 
comes,  and  sets  the  prisoner  free.  When  a  de- 
voted martyr  was  confined  in  one  of  the  prisons 
of  that  profligate  persecutor,  Charles  the  If,  and 
he  had  declared  the  prisoner  should  never  have 
his  liberty,  a  nobleman  once  said  to  him,  "  Jen- 
kins has  got  his  liberty."  "Ah  ;"  said  the  wick- 
ed monarch,  "  Who  gave  it  him  ?"  "  A  greater 
than  your  majesty,  the  King  of  kings."  But  no 
King  of  kings  will  open  the  prison  doors  of  those 


THEIR  SORROWS  NEVER  END.       175 

who  are  eternally  lost.  Some  of  these  prisoners 
have  been  there  already  four  thousand  years  ;* 
but  no  year  of  release  has  come,  and  none  will 
ever  come.  Hell  they  chose  when  they  chose 
sin ;  and  what  they  chose  they  must  for  ever 
have.  Time  brought  an  end  to  their  earthly 
sorrows  ;  they  had  their  last ;  but  eternity  will 
bring-  no  end  to  the  sorrows  of  perdition.  Time 
brought  an  end  to  their  pleasures  ;  they  had  their 
last  delight,  their  last  vain  pleasure,  their  last 
hour  of  sinful  merriment,  a  last  laugh  as  well  as 
a  last  sigh ;  but  of  their  present  ruin,  no  one 
will  ever  say,  The  end  is  come.  If  ten  thousand 
years  hence  the  question  were  asked,  Where  are 
they  who  neglected  God,  slighted  Christ,  loved 
the  world,  and  died  in  sin  ?  and  how  are  they 
employed  ?  The  answer  might  be,  They  are 
helpless  captives  in  the  prison  of  the  lost ;  there 
they  are  blaspheming  their  God,  and  weeping, 
and  wailing,  and  suffering  ;  hateful,  and  hating 
one  another.  And  if  ten  thousand  years  beyond 
that  period,  the  question  were  again  proposed, 
the  answer  must  still  be  the  same,  and  the  same 
would  it  be  for  ever.  Their  last  change  was  a 
final  one.  Help  cannot  reach  them.  Now,  Chris- 
tian, if  you  can,  tell  those  hapless  souls  of  peace, 
tell  them  of  your  Saviour  !  O,  you  cannot ;  he 
can  never  be  theirs.  Now,  Christian  minister, 
proclaim  your  message;  proclaim  pardon  through 
atoning  blood  !  Ah  !  you  cannot ;  though  once, 
perhaps,  some  of  them  sat  beneath  your  ministry, 
yet  as  to  them  your  work  is  done  ;  your  com- 
mission is  over ;  you  have  no  message  to  bear 
to  them,   no   pardon  to  proclaim,   no   Saviour 

(1)  1  Peter,  iii.  19,  20.  Jude,  7 


176      THE  STATE  OF  THE  LOST  UNCHANGEABLE. 

to  display.  0,  be  zealous  while  you  may  ;  not 
long  can  you  help  any  to  heaven ;  they  will  be 
out  of  your  reach,  or  you  removed  from  them. 

8.  Their  state  is  unchangeable,  for  their  cha- 
racter cannot  be  renewed.  They  went  out  of  the 
world  unholy,  and  thus  hateful  and  hellish  ;  and 
such  they  must  for  ever  remain.  No  change  will 
their  hearts  ever  know.  No  love  to  God  will  ever 
be  found  within  their  breasts.  No  alteration 
will  ever  take  place  in  their  relative  condition  as 
to  God  and  Christ,  to  saints  and  angels,  or  to  the 
devil  and  the  lost.  Of  God  and  Christ  they 
would  be  neglectors,  and  thus  were  enemies, 
and  enemies  they  will  for  ever  continue.  With 
the  blessed  family  of  saints  and  angels  they  had 
no  connexion ;  they  were  aliens  from  the  com- 
monwealth of  Israel,  and  strangers  from  the  co- 
venants of  promise  ;  and  such  they  will  eternally 
remain.  They  were  the  children  of  the  wicked 
one,  and  did  his  will  in  slighting  mercy  and 
persisting  in  rebellion  ;  and  now  they  must  be 
his  helpless  captives.  No  change  can  they  know 
as  to  sin  and  condemnation.  Unpardoned  sins 
fixed  on  them,  when  they  died,  must  load  them 
for  ever ;  their  condemnation  then  was  sealed. 
The  darkness  of  the  fall  might  be  removed  ;  the 
stains  of  guilt  might  have  been  effaced  ;  but  the 
darkness  of  hell  can  never  be  dissipated  ;  the 
load  of  guilt  once  felt  there,  must  sink  the  soul 
eternally  beneath  its  intolerable  weight.  For 
them  no  rest  remains ;  no  rest  from  sinning  and 
from  suffering.  Their  absence  from  God  is  ever- 
lasting ;  their  enmity  to  God  will  be  everlasting  ; 
and  their  sufferings  beneath  his  wrath  will  be 
everlasting.  Their  dwelling  with  accursed  friends 


SERIOUS  EXPOSTULATION.  177 

and  miserable  associates  in  guilt  will  be  ever- 
lasting-. Earthly  sorrows  know  nothing-  of  such 
wretchedness.  In  pain  or  agony  to-day,  we  hope 
for  ease  to-morrow  ;  but  there  will  be  no  to-mor- 
row of  ease  to  be  hoped  for  there.  Iflanguishing 
in  disease  now,  a  few  days  may  bring  recruited 
health  ;  but  the  disease  of  sin  will  never  be  re- 
moved. When  thousands  of  years  of  woe  are 
past,  the  sinner  will  still  have  to  lament  his  fatal 
choice.  If  he  had  chosen  God  and  Christ,  reli- 
gion and  heaven,  he  would  not  have  been  this 
destitute,  forsaken,  friendless  wretch  ;  but  he 
chose  the  world,  and  sin,  and  folly  ;  and  all  he 
loved  has  left  him,  and  only  the  bitter  fruits  of 
his  fatal  choice  remain.  A  disgraced  courtier 
once  said,  "If  I  had  served  God  as  faithfully  as 
I  have  served  my  king,  he  would  not  have  for- 
saken me  in  my  grey  hairs."  Every  lost  sinner 
may  say,  "  If  I  had  served  the  Saviour,  as  I  serv- 
ed the  world,  if  I  had  given  the  heart  to  him 
which  I  gave  to  the  world,  he  would  not  have 
left  me  to  be  the  victim  of  devils,  and  the  prisoner 
of  hell,  in  utter  sorrow  and  endless  poverty." 

9.  Reader,  if  you  are  careless  of  salvation,  be 
entreated  to  consider  your  own  concern  in  these 
solemn  truths.  These  are  not  cunningly  devised 
fables.  Even  demons  dreaded  the  gulf  of 
sorrow;  and  when  permitted,  for  a  little  while 
to  rove  on  earth,  prayed  for  transient  relief  from 
the  abyss.  They  besought  the  Lord  that  he 
would  not  command  them  to  go  into  that  deep.1 
Did  demons  dread  hell,  and  will  you  rush  into 
it !  Did  they,  when  deliverance  was  hopeless, 
beg"  for  a  moment's  absence  from  the  pit,  and 

(1)  Luko,  viii  31. 

q3 


1*8  THE  IRRELIGIOUS  ENTREATED  TO 

will  you  slight  eternal  deliverance  !  Did  devils 
pray,  and  will  you  not  pray  !  At  this  very 
moment,  multitudes  unknown  are  in  the  world 
unseen,  suffering  the  torments  of  guilt,  perdi- 
tion, and  despair.  While  you  slight  salvation, 
they  who  have  slighted  the  gospel  before  you 
burn.  While  you  laugh,  perhaps  at  this  warn- 
ing, they  wail  at  the  recollection  of  warnings 
once  scorned.  While  you  talk  of  liberty,  they 
groan  in  the  prison,  to  which  such  liberty  leads. 
At  this  moment,  could  you  behold  their  sor- 
rows, and  hear  their  groans,  their  cries  of  misery 
might  fill  you  with  consternation,  while  the 
thought  forced  itself  on  your  mind,  "  I  am 
travelling  to  the  same  abode."  They  lament 
while  you  neglect ;  and  suffer  for  sins  while  you 
commit  them ;  but  if  you  pursue  a  careless 
course,  what  must  be  its  termination  ?  "  If  the 
righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the  un- 
godly and   the  sinner  appear  ?" 

10.  Think,  what  if  you  continue  to  slight  the 
gospel,  will  be  your  future  lot  !  Picture  your 
future  self.  Suppose  you  follow  the  world ; 
you  love  it,  you  have  it,  and  you  neglect  your 
soul.  Thus  you  go  through  life ;  at  length  the 
end  comes  ;  sickness  seizes  you,  and  you  lie 
stretched  upon  the  bed  of  death.  Alas,  you 
are  not  prepared  for  the  great  change  !  Did 
you  do  well  to  neglect  the  only  Saviour? 
Eternity  is  before  you,  and  you  are  not  ready 
to  meet,  with  comfort,  its  amazing  solemnities. 
You  look  backward,  and  can  think  of  van- 
ities, follies,  pleasures  loved  and  prized,  yet 
ended ;  but  you  cannot  think  of  piety,  of 
sweet  seasons  of  prayer ;   of  Christ  welcomed ; 


CONTEMPLATE    THEIR  FUTURE    CONDITION.       179 

and  a  deathless  soul  committed  to  his  hands. 
You  can  think  of  serious  impressions,  but  this 
deepens  your  anguish,  for  these  impressions 
were  quenched.  You  can  remember  desires 
after  God  and  holiness  once  felt,  but  those 
desires  were  stifled  ;  the  Spirit  was  resisted,  and 
sin  and  folly  chosen.  You  can  think  of  sabbaths, 
whose  profanation  added  to  the  enormous  load 
of  your  transgressions.  Unhappy  they,  who 
must  lie  upon  a  dying  bed  indulging  such  re- 
flections.! But  you  must  if  you  will  not  turn 
to  God.  From  looking  backward,  you  look 
forward,  but  all  the  prospect  is  dark  and  dis- 
tressing. Perhaps,  some  false  hope  bears  you 
up  a  little;  but  your  case  seems  dreadfully 
doubtful  at  the  best.  At  length  you  die,  and 
doubt  is  over.  Your  lot  is  decided  now ;  you 
are  in  eternity,  and  all  your  sins  upon  you. 
What  will  then  be  your  torturing  feelings  I 
"What  different  views  will  you  take  of  this  world  ! 
of  your  own  conduct !  of  your  guilty  choice 
from  those  you  cherish  now  !  What  different 
thoughts  will  force  themselves  upon  you,  of 
your  present  pleasures  !  of  your  abuse  of  God's 
mercy  and  patience  !  of  Christ's  love  and  your 
neglect !  of  his  long-continued  goodness  and 
your  long.continued  indifference  and  ingratitude! 
What  then  will  seem  youth,  riper  years,  and, 
perhaps,  age  spent  without  God  in  the  world  ! 
But  regret  will  come  too  late,  the  deed  will  be 
done  that  cannot  be  undone. 

11.  Think  of  yourself  now,  going  to  your  dis- 
mal prison.  Infernal  spirits  have  seized  your 
miserable  soul.  There  is  none  to  help  you. 
Through  many  long  rebellious  years  you  slight- 


180  THE  FUTURE  CONDITION  AND 

ed  him  who  would  have  helped  you,  and  saved 
you  from  the  pit.  Think  yourself  entering  the 
place  of  sorrow.  How  horrid  is  the  place  !  how 
deep  the  darkness!  how  unutterably  dreadful 
the  prospect !  Now  what  is  your  remorse  for 
mercies  past  and  wasted  !  Now  what  do  you  think 
of  sabbaths  broken  !  of  sabbath  work,  and  sab- 
bath amusements  !  Now  what  do  you  think  of 
the  warnings,  that  Christians  and  ministers 
once  addressed  to  you !  Will  you  now  say 
they  were  too  plain  ?  Now  what  do  you  think 
of  the  house  of  God,  which  you  would  not  fre- 
quent !  of  your  careless  days  and  guilty  nights; 
and  all  your  scenes  of  worldly  festivity  and 
merriment !  Now  how  do  you  review  stifled 
convictions,  and  neglected  calls  and  invitations  ! 
O  that  you  could  have  them  again  !  O  that 
now  some  helping  hand  could  be  stretched  out, 
to  prevent  your  going  into  the  deep  !  but  there 
is  none  !  O  that  prevailing  prayer  could  now 
be  offered  !  but  there  is  none.  The  day  for 
prayer  is  over  ;  and  the  prayerful  will  never 
more  pray  for  you.  Now  you  may  groan  out, 
"  Is  this  my  fancied  wisdom  !  Did  my  ways  lead 
to  this !  Is  this  the  ruin  from  which  the  Lord 
would  have  saved  me  !  and  to  which  I  rushed 
so  heedlessly  and  madly  !"  What  will  you  do  ! 
Fly  to  seek  refuge  among  the  pious  you  once 
despised  ?  You  cannot.  Almighty  power  en- 
gaged against  you,  forbids  the  hope.  Escape 
the  wicked  one  ?  You  have  served  him,  you 
have  done  his  will  in  sin,  or  in  wicked  neglect 
of  the  Saviour,  and  you  cannot  escape  him 
Will  you  repent  ?  pray  ?  Ah  it  is  too  late  ! 
Now  you  may  pray.     You  may  go  to  Christian 


CHANGED  VIEWS  OF  THE  IRRELIGIOUS.        181 

friends  or  Christian  ministers,  or  search  the 
sacred  page  for  instruction  and  advice;  but  then 
you  cannot.  Go  you  must  into  your  dismal 
prison.  Oh  the  groans  of  your  sinking  despair- 
ing soul  !  You  may  laugh  at  these  things  in 
health  and  strength,  in  the  present  world,  though 
God  himself  has  said,  "  The  wicked  shall  be 
turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  nations  that  forget 
God."1  In  hardened  sin,  or  trifling  folly  you 
may  laugh  while  here  ;  and  treat  these  awful 
truths  as  bugbears  invented  to  frighten  you ; 
but  entrance  on  the  infernal  prison  will  produce, 
too  late,  an  inconceivable  change  in  all  your 
views  of  these  solemn  subjects.  When  your 
neglected  soul  wakes  in  torments  ;  when  round 
you  is  the  horrid  glare  of  hellish  fire ;  before 
you  the  dreadful  forms  of  hellish  tormentors ; 
on  you  all  the  wrath  of  God  ;  and  in  you  all 
the  tortures  of  despair  ;  then  will  you  know  what 
it  is  to  go  into  the  deep  you  dread  so  little  here. 
When  God  has  left  you,  when  Christ  has  left 
you,  when  mercy  has  left  you,  when  there  is  not 
one  to  pray  for  you,  none  to  fan  your  false 
hopes,  none  to  amuse  you,  then  will  you  know 
what  it  is  to  neglect  the  Saviour,  and  sink  into 
the  dreadful  deep  of  hell !  O  awake!  awake  ! 
and  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Awake ! 
awake  !  and  welcome  the  Saviour  of  the  lost ! 

12.  If  you  will  not  listen  to  this  entreaty,  O 
hear  one  warning  more.  According  to  the. 
views  given  from  God's  word,  your  ruin  will  be 
endless.  The  writer  once  travelling,  fell  into 
company  with  a  young  man,  just  released,  aftei 
eighteen  months'  confinement,  from  a  well-con- 

(1)  Psalm,  ix.  17. 


182      THE  CONDITION  AND  REFLECTIONS  OF  THE 

ducted  English  prison  ;  whose  governor  was  dis- 
tinguished for  kindness  to  his  prisoners  ;  yet  this 
young  man  remarked,  that  it  seemed  to  him 
almost  like  heaven  when  out  of  gaol,  to  walk 
about  the  streets  of  the  town.  It  was  remarked 
to  him,  that  a  prisoner  might  come  out  of  an 
earthly  prison,  but  if  he  went  to  hell  he  would 
never  be  delivered.  A  poor  negro  made  the 
same  observation  to  a  number  of  his  countrymen. 
"  If  you  go  to  gaol  you  soon  will  come  out  again  ; 
if  you  go  to  hell  you  never  come  out."  Now  is 
this  so  in  your  case,  as  in  the  case  of  other  im- 
penitent transgressors  ?  Not  only  is  hell  ever- 
lasting, but  if  you  go  to  it,  it  will  be  everlasting 
to  you?  And  can  you  dwell  with  devouring 
burnings?  can  you  dwell  with  everlasting  fire? 
What  would  you  not,  when  too  late,  give  for  even 
a  moment's  respite  ?  Will  one  moment  come 
through  endless  years,  in  which  a  lost  soul  will 
not  view,  with  bitter  remorse,  the  day  of  salvation 
wasted  !  Will  one  pang  be  felt,  amidst  the  suf- 
ferings of  a  whole  eternity,  that  will  not  bring  to 
remembrance  mercy  abused ;  grace  despised ; 
Christ  neglected  !  salvation  slighted  !  and  sin 
and  folly  preferred  ! 

13.  Ere  this  warning  close,  O  reader,  again  be 
entreated  to  think  of  the  agonizing  reflections 
that  will  force  themselves  upon  you,  if  by  neglect 
of  salvation  you  sink  yourself  to  final  ruin.  When 
help  is  at  an  end  ;  when  they  who  prayed  have 
done  praying  for  you  ;  and  they  who  wept  have 
done  weeping  for  you  ;  when  the  Christian  has 
ceased  inviting  you  ;  and  the  minister  yearning- 
over  you  ;  when  the  Saviour  has  done  waiting  on 
you  ;  and  even  the  wicked  one  has  done  tempt- 


IRRELIGIOUS  WHEN  MERCIES  SHALLHAVE  ENDED.    183 

ing  you,  because  his  end  is  answered,  and  no  one 
can  save  you  ;  then  how  will  you  contemplate 
the  past !  How  many  were  your  mercies  once  ! 
but  they  are  over.  You  had  convictions  ;  they 
are  stifled  and  past.  Invitations ;  they  have 
ceased.  Hopes  ;  the  last  glimmering  of  hope  is 
gone.  You  heard  sermons ;  they  are  ended. 
You  had  days,  weeks,  years,  sabbaths  of  mercy; 
they  are  all  finished.  Many  would  have  had 
compassion  on  you  ;  the  Father  pitied  you,  and 
called  you  to  himself,  but  he  has  ceased  to  call. 
The  Son  died  for  sin,  and  invited  you  to  come  to 
himself  for  happiness ;  but  he  invites  you  no 
longer.  The  Spirit  strove  with  you  ;  but  he  has 
ceased  to  strive.  Ministers  preached  to  you,  and 
displayed  the  wonders  of  redeeming  love  ;  but 
they  have  ceased  to  bring  to  you  the  message  of 
salvation.  The  followers  of  Christ  longed  for 
your  conversion ;  but  their  anxious  solicitude  is 
ended.  These  mercies  followed  you  through 
successive  periods  for  many  years.  Of  many  it 
may  be  said,  "  You  had  all  these  blessings  in 
youth.  Then  the  Spirit  strove  with  you,  then  the 
Saviour's  love  was  displayed  to  you  ;  but  the 
Spirit  stroved,  and  the  Saviour  invited  you  in 
vain.  The  years  of  youth  passed  ;  its  latest  day 
departed,  and  left  you  unconverted,  even  fur- 
ther from  God  and  happiness,  than  when  its 
opening  morning  dawned  upon  you.  Then 
came  riper  years.  Through  these  too  the  Sa- 
viour's love  was  slighted,  and  eternal  life  disre- 
garded. They  ended,  and  left  you  further  from 
God  than  ever.  Then,  perhaps,  came  the  decli- 
ning years  of  age,  and,  like  those  of  youth  or 
middle  life,  passed  unimproved  away.   Through 


184  THE    HARVEST  PAST,   &C. 

all  these  periods  mercy  followed  mercy,  sabbath 
succeeded  sabbath,  blessings  trod,  a»  it  were, 
upon  each  other  in  constant  succession.  One 
invitation  was  scarcely  rejected  before  another 
was  given.  One  year  of  abused  privileges  hardly 
ended  before  another  commenced.  But  at 
length  the  last  arrived,  and  the  last  departed 
unimproved.  God  called  for  the  last  time,  and, 
like  all  his  former  calls,  the  last  was  disregarded. 
The  Spirit  strove  for  the  last  time,  and  was  for 
the  last  time  resisted,  and  left  the  heart  for  ever. 
The  Saviour  for  the  last  time  displayed  his  love, 
and  offered  his  salvation,  and,  like  all  the  rest, 
this  last  display  was  vain.  The  harvest  passed, 
the  summer  ended,  and  you  are  not  saved. 

Not  saved  !  What  horrors  those  few  words 
express  when  descriptive  of  the  state  of  an  im- 
mortal spirit  fixed  in  the  eternal  world  !  Not 
saved  from  the  ruin  of  the  fall  !  from  the  curse 
of  the  law  !  from  the  captivity  of  Satan  !  from 
the  wrath  of  God  !  from  the  load  of  sin  !  from 
the  torments  of  hell !  O  reader,  should  this  ever 
be  your  condition,  vain  then  will  be  anxiety  and 
remorse.  Vainly  will  you  wish  you  had  your 
time  again.  Vainly  will  you  exclaim,  "  O  those 
mercies  !  those  neglected  mercies  !  could  I  have 
them  again  I  would  trifle  with  them  no  more  ! 
O  those  sabbaths  !  those  broken  sabbaths  !  that 
they  could  but  once  more  return,  and  bring  the 
T  blessings  they  offered  heretofore  !  O  could  I 
-  have  those  wasted  years  again !  and  hear  one 
invitation  more  to  the  compassionate  Saviour  ! 
Shall  I  not  have  one  !"  No,  unhappy  creature  ! 
not  one  !  God  called,  and  you  refused.  When 
Esau  despised  his  birthright,  and  afterwards  fel* 


GRATITUDE  DUE  FOR  SALVATION.  185 

his  loss,  he  wept  and  prayed,  "  Hast  thou  but 
one  blessing  for  me,  my  father  !  bless  me,  even 
me  also,  my  father  !"  but  vain  were  his  entrea- 
ties. "  He  found  no  place  for  repentance,  though 
he  sought  it  carefully  with  tears ;"  and  equally 
vain  hereafter  will  be  the  agonizing  cries  of  all 
who  trifle  the  day  of  grace  away. 

14.  The  subject  of  this  chapter,  if  considered 
aright,  is  full  of  instruction  to  the  most  pious, 
as  well  as  to  the  irreligious.  While  the  ungodly 
should  think  of  hell,  that  they  may  feel  their 
danger  and  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  the 
pious  should  remember  hell,  that  they  may  re- 
collect what  was  once  their  desert,  and  what  are 
their  infinite  obligations  to  redeeming  love.  If 
you  are  a  Christian  indeed  ;  if  you  are  a  partaker 
of  grace  ;  if  you  are  delivered  from  all  fear  of 
everlasting  death,  and  can  even  read  in  the 
brightest  characters  your  title  clear  to  mansions 
in  the  skies  ;  even  if  all  this  is  your  happiness, 
still  forget  not  the  awful  subject  of  this  chapter. 
Stand  as  it  were  on  the  edge  of  the  infernal  pit, 
and,  in  your  meditations,  look  down  into  that 
abyss  of  guilt,  and  shame,  and  woe  ;  then  reflect, 
What  must  be  the  evil  of  sin  that  has  de- 
served such  a  doom  !  deserved  it,  for  a  God  of 
boundless  love  would  never  inflict  such  punish- 
ment if  not  deserved  !  If  sin  had  not  deserved 
the  doom,  justice  as  well  as  compassion  would 
forbid  its  infliction.  Has  sin  therefore  deserved 
this  dreadful  doom  ?  is  this  death,  not  an  arbi- 
trary and  unreasonable  punishment,  but  its 
vmgesF  then  what  must  be  its  evil !  How  little 
can  we  possibly  comprehend  the  malignity  of 
sin! 


j  86        GRATITUDE  FOR  SALVATION. 

But,  Christian,  look  down  into  that  abyss  again, 
and  bring  the  awful  subject  nearer  to  your  own 
bosom.  Not  only  had  sin  deserved  this  doom, 
but  each  may  confess,  "I  had  deserved  it.  I 
as  a  sinner  had  merited  this  dreadful  wrath. 
O  wretched  condition  !  wretched  past  imagina- 
tion !  But  I  am  delivered.  O  what  a  deliver- 
ance !  how  stupendous !  how  precious !  how 
incalculably  valuable  !  how  inexpressibly  great ! 
Had  I  to  linger  for  a  year  in  pain,  how  welcome 
would  have  been  relief !  Had  I  to  linger  for  ten, 
for  fifty  years  in  misery,  how  welcome  would 
be  a  deliverer,  that  should  save  me  from  fifty 
years  of  pain  !  how  great  would  be  my  obliga- 
tions to  him !  had  I  been  doomed  to  toil  in  the 
deepest  poverty  for  fifty  years,  how  much 
should  I  owe  to  a  benefactor  that  might  re- 
lieve that  poverty,  and  give  me  fifty  years  of 
wealth  and  plenty,  instead  of  fifty  years  of 
penury  and  want !  Had  I  been  doomed  to 
spend  fifty  years  in  some  horrid  dungeon,  how 
much  should  I  feel  indebted  to  him,  that  might 
open  my  prison  door,  and  make  those  years, 
years  of  rapturous  freedom,  instead  of  miserable 
captivity.  But  I  was  doomed  to  a  prison  worse 
than  earth's  most  dismal  dungeon,  and  doomed 
to  spend  not  fifty  years  only,  but  eternal  ages 
there.  There  I  must  have  endured  eternal 
heart-ache,  and  eternal  poverty.  But  the  Saviour 
delivered  me.  He  has  given  me  hope,  instead 
of  despair ;  heavenly  wealth,  instead  of  hellish 
poverty  ;  and  all  the  blessings  of  the  Father's 
favour,  instead  of  all  the  terrors  of  his  justice. 
What  do  I  not  owe  him !  Such  a  salvation 
exceeds  all  human  comprehension,  and  much 


HEAVEN.  187 

more  transcends  all  earthly  praise.  Yet  never 
can  I  feel  the  value  of  that  salvation  aright,  nor 
my  obligations  to  its  Author,  but  when  I  feel 
from  what  a  hell  he  has  snatched  me  !  and  to 
what  a  heaven  he  would  raise  me  ! 


CHAPTER  X. 

DECISION  AS  TO  RELIGION  URGED  EY  THE  BLESSED- 
NESS OF  HEAVEN. 

1.  Mosr  pleasing  are  the  representations  fur- 
nished in  the  undeceiving  word  of  God,  of  the 
blessedness  of  those  who  rest  in  Christ.  "Absent 
from  the  body,"  they  are  "  present  with  the 
Lord,"1  and  enjoying  intermediate  blessedness, 
while  their  mouldering  dust  lies,  unconscious 
that  it  once  was  man,  in  unknown  and  forgotten 
graves.  It  is  pleasant  to  think  of  those,  who,  in 
past  ages,  trod  the  paths  of  humble  piety. 
Where  are  they,  who  formerly  in  deep  poverty 
loved  the  Saviour,  who  were  unnoticed  and  de- 
spised, who  lingered  in  chambers  of  affliction, 
and  wasted  away  on  beds  of  suffering  ?  or  whose 
course  if  not  so  afflictive  has  long  since  ended  ? 
Where  are  they  ?  where  they  are  no  longer  poor 
or  despised,  suffering  or  mortal.  They  have 
entered  into  rest,  and  "  blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord."2  They  had  their  trials; 
but  these  are  ended.  They  had  their  pains,  and 
fears,  and  tears,  their  days  of  languishing  and 
hour  of  dying,  but  all  this  is  over  ;  "  the  former 
things  are  passed  away."   They  had  dangers,  but 

(1)  2  Cor.  ▼.  8.  (2)  Rey.  xiv.  13. 


188   DECIDED  PIETY  NEEDFUL  TO  REACH  HEAVEN. 

these  are  escaped  ;  temptations,  they  are  van- 
quished ;  conflicts,  but  the  warfare  is  ended, 
and  the  victory  sure.  They  were  weak,  but  re- 
ceived strength  sufficient  to  reach  heaven.  Their 
Father  chastened  them,  but  the  last  chastening 
is  over.  Their  Saviour  led  them  through  trying 
scenes,  but  the  last  is  ended.  They  felt  un- 
worthy, yet  are  glorified.  The  "  work  of  faith  and 
the  labour  of  love"  are  finished.  The  "  patience 
of  hope"  has  endured  to  the  end,  and  is  no  longer 
needed.  Satan  tried  all  his  arts  to  undo  them, 
and  was  baffled.  The  world  employed  all  its 
snares,  yet  all  were  escaped ;  sin  made  all  its 
assaults,  yet  all  were  overcome.  Blessed  was 
the  day,  when  they  were  brought  to  the  Saviour's 
feet !  more  blessed  that  when  they  landed  in 
the  skies  !  "Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  thy  name  be  glory  for  thy  mercy  and 
for  thy  truth's  sake."1 

2.  Consider  that  without  decided  piety,  you  can- 
not possibly  become  a  partaker  of  the  blessedness  of 
heaven.  Far  more  reasonable  would  it  be  to  ex- 
pect the  king  of  England  to  fill  his  palace  with 
condemned  felons,  than  for  you  to  hope  for  ad- 
mission into  heaven,  if  you  continue  a  stranger  to 
the  Saviour's  grace.  Could  you  persuade  some 
timorous  friend,  to  admit  blood-thirsty  tigers  and 
poisonous  serpents  into  his  chamber?  Not  for  a 
world  Yet  it  would  be  more  easy  to  effect  this, 
than  to  prevail  on  the  holy  God,  to  admit  an 
unpardoned  and  impenitent  trifler  into  heaven. 
But  should  heaven  be  lost  to  you,  all  is  lost  for 
ever. 

3.  Heaven  is  described  as  the  Christian's  future 

(1)  Psalm,  cxv.  1. 


HEAVEN  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  HAPPY  HOME.       189 

happy  home.  Many  expressions  are  employed 
to  furnish  some  faint  ideas  of  its  excellence  and 
blessedness.  It  is  represented  as  "  a  city  which 
hath  foundations  whose  builder  and  maker 
is  God/'1  A  city  adorned  with  unutterable 
splendour,  whose  walls  are  founded  on  precious 
jewels ;  whose  streets  are  gold  ;  whose  gates  are 
pearl,  and  whose  light  is  the  glory  of  God. 
Thest;  images  are  designed  to  represent  the 
glory  of  the  heavenly  world.  To  it  will  apply 
the  prophei  Isaiah's  expressive  language  :  "Vio- 
lence shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land,  wast- 
ing nor  destruction  within  thy  borders;  but 
thou  shalt  call  thy  walls  salvation,  and  thy  gates 
praise.  The  sun  shall  be  no  more  thy  light  by 
day,  neither  for  brightness  shall  the  moon  give 
light  unto  thee  :  but  the  Lord  shall  be  unto 
thee  an  everlasting  light,  and  thy  God  thy  glory. 
Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down ;  neither  shall 
thy  moon  withdraw  itself:  for  the  Lord  shall  be 
thine  everlasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy 
mourning  shall  be  ended."2  Heaven  is  repre- 
sented as  a  "  better  country,"  purposely  provided 
by  God  for  his  redeemed  ;3  as  a  kingdom  which 
he  delights  to  bestow  upon  his  children  ;4  a 
kingdom  prepared  for  them  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world.5  It  is  described  as  the  Eternal 
Father's  house,6  in  which  are  many  mansions; 
dwellings  of  peace,  of  tranquil,  and  continued 
stay;  and  in  that  happy  home,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  "there  is  fulness  of  joy  and  pleasures 
for  evermore."7 
4.  Contemplation   on  the  blessedness  of  that 

(I)  Heb.  xi.  10.  (2)  Is.  Ix.  18-20.  (3)  Heb.  xi.  16.    (4)  Luke,  xii.  33. 
(5)  Matt.  xxt.  34.         (6)  John,  xiv.  2.        (7)  Psalm,  xvi.  11. 

r3 


190   CONSIDERATIONS  ASSISTING  CONTEMPLATION 

better  country,  may  be  assisted  by  viewing  the 
excellencies  of  the  present  world ;  and  by  con- 
sidering that  this  was  formed  for  a  span  of  time, 
that  for  eternity  itself!  This  world  displays  its 
Creator's  eternal  power  and  Godhead,  and  wis- 
dom, and  love.  How  beautiful  and  goodly  are 
many  of  its  scenes  !  The  verdant  spring  with  all 
its  flowers ;  the  blooming  summer  with  all  its 
promise ;  and  the  autumn  with  all  its  fruits  ; 
valleys  green  with  perpetual  herbage ;  fields 
covered  with  corn ;  hills  crowned  with  woods ; 
mountains  piercing  the  skies ;  streams  fertili- 
zing the  plains;  and  rivers  pouring  their  tor- 
rents to  the  ocean,  perpetually  flowing  and 
never  exhausted ;  stupendous  oceans  always 
full,  yet  never  extensively  overflowing;  the 
opening  morning,  and  the  calm  evening ;  the 
sun  by  day,,  diffusing  light  and  warmth  from  age 
to  age  ;  by  night  the  moon  and  stars  shedding  a 
feebler  but  more  solemn  light ;  the  land  and  the 
water  abounding  with  numerous  creatures,  sup- 
plying food,  or  ministering  to  the  comfort  of 
mankind.  All  this,  with  much  besides,  shows 
forth  the  might  and  goodness  of  the  world's  great 
Creator.  Yet  the  world  thus  adorned,  and 
crowned  with  good,  was  formed  for  man's  ac- 
commodation, through  a  short  period  of  time,  a 
period  that,  compared  with  eternity,  is  like 
nothingness,  what  then  must  be  the  eternal 
world  !  What  shall  we  suppose  the  beauty  and 
glory  and  splendour  of  that  country,  which  is 
designed  to  endure  through  eternal  ages !  If 
the  inn  for  dying  pilgrims  be  so  magnificent, 
and  princely,  so  full  of  excellency  and  glory,  as 
this  creation  is;  what  must  be  the  palace  of  the 


ON  THE  BLESSEDNESS  OF  HEAVEN.     191 

Eternal  King,  in  whose  many  mansions  his 
beloved  shall  reign  in  joy  and  immortality  ! 

An  early  Christian  writer  has  a  soliloquy  to 
the  following  purport :  "  O  Lord,  if  thou  for  this 
vile  body  of  ours,  givest  such  great  and  number- 
less benefits  from  the  firmament,  from  the 
air,  from  the  earth,  from  the  sea :  by  light,  by 
darkness,  by  heat,  by  shade,  by  dews,  by  show- 
ers, by  winds,  by  rains,  by  birds,  by  fishes,  by 
beasts,  by  trees;  by  many  herbs  and  various 
plants,  and  by  the  ministry  of  all  thy  crea- 
tures: what  manner  of  things,  how  great,  how 
good,  and  how  innumerable  are  those  thou 
hast  prepared  in  our  heavenly  country,  where 
we  shall  see  thee  face  to  face  !  If  thou  do  such 
great  things  for  us  in  oar  prison,  what  wilt  thou 
give  us  in  our  palace  !  If  thou  givest  so  many 
blessings  in  this  world,  where  the  righteous  and 
the  evil  are  mingled  together,  what  hast  thou 
laid  up  for  those  who  will  be  all  righteous  in  the 
world  to  come !  If  thine  enemies  and  friends 
are  so  well  provided  for  in  this  life,  what  shall 
they  who  are  all  thy  friends  receive  in  the  life  to 
come  !  If  there  be  such  great  comforts  in  these 
days  of  tears,  what  joy  shall  there  be  in  that 
day  of  marriage!  If  our  prison  contain  such 
great  treasures,  what  shall  our  country  and 
kingdom  do !"  ' 

5.  The  fulness  of  joy  of  the  redeemed,  springs 
from  various  sources.  One  important  part  of 
their  happiness,  yet  in  reality  the  lowest  part,  is, 
exemption  from  all  evil.  Mere  exemption  from 
evil  is  not  positive  delight,  and  must  be  regarded 
as  the  lowest  portion  in  the  scale  of  heavenly 
blessedness;  yet  it  is  the  source  of  varied  and 


192  NO  EVILS  IN  HEAVEN. 

unspeakable  good ;  and  what  then  must  be  the 
nobler  blessings  of  the  redeemed?  Were  all 
evil  banished  from  this  world,  even  this  would 
be  a  Paradise.  Were  pain  and  sorrow  and  sin 
extinct,  were  disease  and  sickness  unknown, 
were  no  groan  or  sigh  ever  uttered,  and  no  tear 
ever  shed ;  even  earth  would  form  a  kind  of  im- 
perfect heaven.  But  all  this,  which  will  never  be 
realized  here,  is  realized  above.  The  scriptures 
declare  respecting  the  redeemed,  "They  shall 
hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more  ;  neither 
shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor  any  heat;  for  the 
Lamb,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  shall 
feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living  foun- 
tains of  waters ;  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eyes."1  "And  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall 
be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying, 
neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain ;  for  the  for- 
mer things  are  passed  away."2  "  And  there  shall 
be  no  more  curse :  but  the  throne  of  God  and  of 
the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it;  and  his  servants  shall 
serve  him."3  What  varied  and  inconceivable 
good  will  flow  from  such  entire  exemption  from 
all  evil !  The  cares  and  anxieties  incident  to  the 
present  state,  no  more  distress  those  happy  con- 
querors. God  has  wiped  away  their  every  tear, 
and  dried  up  every  source  of  sorrow.  They  have 
no  toilsome  days,  no  wearisome  nights.  The 
head  never  aches,  the  heart  never  throbs.  Pain 
and  sickness  are  alike  unknown.  Instead  of  fee- 
ble, emaciated,  withered  forms,  all  are  beheld 
happy  beings,  vigorous  with  immortal  health,  and 
clothed  with  celestial  loveliness.  Here  the  loveliest 

(J)  Rev.  vii.  16, 17.         (2)  Rev.  xxi.4.  (3)  Rev.  xxif.  3. 


PERFECT  SAFETY  THERE.  193 

fade, like  a  flower;  but  the  flowers  that  fade  on 
earth,  if  once  transplanted  to  heaven,  will  there 
never  fade  more,  but  will  bloom  through  everlast- 
ing ages  in  unwithering  beauty.  With  pain  and 
sickness,  death  too  will  cease.  When  this  cor- 
ruptible shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this 
mortality  immortality,  death  will  be  swallowed 
up  in  victory.  The  sublime  language  of  the 
Redeemer  will  be  accomplished  :  "  I  will  ransom 
them  from  the  power  of  the  grave ;  I  will  redeem 
them  from  death;  O  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues; 
O  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction;  repentance 
shall  be  hid  from  mine  eyes."1  There  shall  then 
be  no  more  death  ;  no  more  will  that  last  enemy 
daunt  the  children  of  God  by  his  approach,  nor 
will  they  ever  again  dread  his  power.  The  lan- 
guors that  precede  the  hour  of  dissolution  will 
never  be  felt;  the  painful  separations  that  death 
frequently  occasions,  will  never  be  known.  None 
will  be  summoned  by  death  to  leave  the  friends 
they  love,  or  the  happy  country  where  they  dwell. 
6.  The  state  of  the  blest  in  heaven,  is  a  state 
of  perfect  safety.  This  world  is  a  scene  of  dan- 
ger, and  of  frequent  conflict.  In  all  its  changes 
and  in  all  its  states,  temptation  is  found.  Pros- 
perity tempts  the  soul  to  love  the  world;  adver- 
sity, to  repine  at  the  dealings  of  God.  Youth 
and  age,  poverty  and  wealth,  health  and  sickness, 
have  all  temptations  peculiar  to  themselves. 
Even  the  zealous  discharge  of  Christian  duties, 
and  the  possession  of  elevated  Christian  graces, 
may  be  connected  with  temptations  to  those 
odious  sins,  self-righteousness  and  pride.  And, 
while   in   every   circumstance   temptation   may 

(i)  Hos.  xiii.  4. 


194  HEAVEN  A  STATE  OF  SAFETY 

exist,  the  great  enemy  of  God  and  man,  "  like  a 
roaring  lion,  walketh  about  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour;"1  hut  in  heaven  no  inward  corruption 
distresses  the  soul;  no  anger,  no  shame,  no  envy, 
no  ambition  is  ever  felt.  No  temptation  harasses 
the  redeemed.  They  left  danger  and  sin  behind 
when  they  left  the  precincts  of  mortality.  Now, 
tempter !  grieve  that  peaceful  soul  that  once  was 
harassed  by  thy  dire  suggestions;  once  more 
break  its  peace,  and  rob  that  humble  conqueror 
of  sweet  tranquillity.  Ah!  thou  canst  not:  the 
peace  of  earth  might  be  interrupted  by  hellish 
arts;  but  not  the  peace  of  heaven.  "There  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  there  the  weary 
are  at  rest."2  The  sufferer  has  forgot  his  sor- 
rows; the  endangered  is  for  ever  safe.  Here 
Christians  struggle  for  important  victory ;  there 
they  possess  the  crown  and  wave  the  palm  of  tri- 
umph. Here  Christians  run  the  race  that  is  set 
before  them;  but  there  the  race  is  ended.  Here 
they  are,  as  it  were,  on  a  battle-field,  struggling 
against  numerous  foes  for  life  and  immortality ; 
but  "there  are  no  fields  of  battle  there,"  Here 
they  are  tossed  on  a  stormy  sea;  there  in  the 
pleasant  harbour.  In  that  better  country  they 
hear  no  complaints,  shed  no  tears,  dread  no  dan- 
gers, feel  no  corruptions,  anticipate  no  evils. 
Instead  of  sin,  there  is  holiness ;  instead  of  dan- 
ger and  temptation,  safety;  instead  of  weakness, 
strength ;  instead  of  languishing,  beauty  ;  instead 
of  painful  partings,  eternal  unions;  instead  of 
sorrow  and  death,  unutterable  joy  and  never- 
ending  life.  They  were  with  us,  they  are  with 
Christ;  they  were  in  the  church  below,  they  are 

(1)  1  Pet.  v.  8.  (2)  Job,  iii.  17. 


AND  PERFECTION.  195 

in  that  above.  How  great  such  a  change  from 
the  scenes  of  earthly  care  and  labour !  from  the 
toils  of  the  factory  or  the  field,  the  shop  or  the 
counting-house !  How  great  to  many  the  change 
from  the  company  with  which  they  had  to  min- 
gle in  fields  or  mills,  during  daily  toil,  to  the 
company  of  perfected  spirits,  and  the  blessed 
society  of  holy  angels. 

7.  The  happiness  of  heaven  will  be  augmented 
by  the  perfection  and  holiness  of  its  blessed  in- 
habitants. The  general  assembly  and  church  of 
of  the  first-born  is  composed  of  the  spirits  of  the 
just  "made  perfect/'1  The  Lord  Jesus  will 
"be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all 
them  that  believe."2  He  will  change  their 
vile  body,  the  body  of  their  humiliation,  "  that 
it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious 
body/'3  As  they  "have  borne  the  image  of  the 
earthy,  they  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  hea- 
venly/'4 "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what"  they 
"  shall  be ;  but  when  he  shall  appear,"  they 
"shall  be  like  him,  and  see  him  as  he  is."5  He 
will  present  to  himself  the  whole  company  of  the 
redeemed,  as  "a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot 
or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing;"  but  "holy  and 
without  blemish."6  He  will  present  them  "holy 
and  unblameable,  and  unreprovable  in  his  sight."7 
He  will  present  them  "  faultless  before  the 
presence  of  his  glory,  with  exceeding  joy."8 
How  rapturous  will  be  this  scene  of  holiness  and 
happiness !  An  immense  assemblage  of  happy 
beings,  forming  one  glorified  family,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  their  God  and  Redeemer.     Angels  and 

(1)  Heb.  xii.  23.    (2)  2Thess.  i.  10.    (3)  Phil.  iii.  21.     (4)  Cor.  xv.  49. 
(5)IJohn,iii.2.    (6)  Eph.  v.  27.    (7)  Col.  i.  22.    (8)Jude,24. 


196      PERFECTION  AND  BLESSEDNESS 

saints  now  brethren  in  Christ  Jesus;  their  abode, 
their  pleasures,  their  employments,  and  their 
character  for  ever  the  same.  Not  one  defect 
among  them  all;  not  one  blemish  in  the  charac- 
ter of  countless  millions ;  not  one  error  in  their 
conduct;  not  one  defective  disposition;  not  one 
unkind  feeling  ever  experienced  ;  not  one  unholy 
thought  ever  known.  Every  countenance  glow- 
ing with  heavenly  beauty,  and  every  heart  full  of 
heavenly  love;  every  eye  the  index  of  a  soul 
adorned  with  all  the  lovely  excellencies  of  its 
redeeming  Lord.  All  in  their  measure  resem- 
bling him  in  glory.  All  like  him,  and  all  so 
resembling  him  in  character  and  disposition, 
that  his  all-piercing  eye  shall  not  discern  one 
defect  in  all  his  happy  family ;  but  even  in  his 
sight  they  shall  be  unblameable  and  unreprov- 
able.  Happy  they  who  form  part  of  such  a 
family!  Reader,  shall  you  be  one  of  its  mem- 
bers? 

8.  All  this  however  does  not  complete  the  hap- 
piness of  heaven.  The  scriptures  describe  that 
happiness  as  great  and  varied.  There  is  the  no- 
blest enjoyment  of  God's  presence,  and  the  rich- 
est enjoyment  of  his  everlasting  love.  The 
"pure  in  heart"  "  shall  see  God."1  "  Behold,  the 
tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell 
with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and 
God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their 
God."2  "  These  are  they  which  came  out  of 
great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God,  and 
serve  him  day  and  night  in  bis  temple :  and  he 

(1)  Matt.  r.  8.  (2)  Rev.  xxi.  3. 


OF  SAINTS  IN   HEAVEN.  197 

that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among 
them."1  The  blessings  of  the  divine  Saviour's 
love  and  care,  shall  eternally  enrich  his  humble 
flock.  "The  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  snail  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto 
living  fountains  of  waters."2  They  shall  behold 
his  "face  in  righteousness,"  and  "be  satisfied" 
when  they  "  awake  in"  his  likeness."3  They  have 
followed  the  Lord  ;  and  shall  be  with  him  where 
he  is,  that  they  may  behold  his  glory,  the  glory 
which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world."4  They  "shall  ever  be 
with  the  Lord."5  They  "have  in  heaven  a  bet- 
ter and  an  enduring  substance."6  "  Honour  and 
glory"7  are  designed  for  them.  They  are  "  heirs 
of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ,"  and  if  they 
"  suffer  with  him  shall  also  be  glorified  together."8 
Their  inheritance  is  "  incorruptible,  and  undefi- 
led,  and  fadeth  not  away."  It  is  "  reserved  for 
them  in  heaven."9  They  shall  "  receive  a  crown 
of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away  ;"10  a  "crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  righteous 
Judge  will  give"  to  all  that  "love  his  appear- 
ing ;"u  "  a  crown  of  life"  given  by  his  own  hands 
to  them  who  are  "  faithful  unto  death."12  The 
sufferings  which  they  here  endure  "are  not  wor- 
thy to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be 
revealed  in"13  them.  Long  years  of  affliction  upon 
earth  are,  compared  with  their  future  blessed- 
ness, "  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  mo- 
ment," and  work  for  them  "  a  far  more  exceed- 


(1 )  Rev.  vii.  14,  15.  (2)  Rev.  vii.  17.  (3)  Ps.  xth.  13. 

(4)  John,  xvii.  24.  (5)  1  Thess.  iv.  17.  (6)  Heb.  x.  34. 

(7)  1  Pet.  i.  7.    (8)  Rom.  viii.  17.     (9)1  Pet.  i.  4.      (10)  1  Pet  v.  4. 

(11)  2  Tim.  iv.  8.      (12)  Rev.  ii.  1*.     (13)  Rom.  viii.  18. 

S 


108  HEAVENLY  HAPPINESS  GLORIOUS 

ing  and  eternal  weight  of  glory."1  "  The  righ- 
teous shall  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom 
of  their  Father."'-  They  "shall  shine  as  the 
>  brightness  of  the  firmament ;  and  as  the  stars  for 
ever  and  ever."3  They  shall  he  pillars  in  the 
temple  of  their  God,  and  "shall  go  no  more 
out;"4  but 

"  Shall  bear  in  those  bright  courts  above 
Inscriptions  of  immortal  love." 

Shall,  like  pillars  in  a  sumptuous  temple,  be  for 
ever  monuments  of  his  grace  who  fixed  them 
there,  and  ornaments  to  that  bright  and  happy 
world.  Exalted  to  the  highest  honour,  they  shall 
walk  with  Christ  "  in  white,  for  they  are  wor- 
thy."5 He  will  grant  them  "  to  sit  with  him  on 
his  throne,  even  as  he  also  overcame,  and  is  sat 
down  with  the  Father  on  his  throne."6  "The 
God  of  all  grace  has  called"  them  "  to  his  eternal 
glory  by  Christ  Jesus."7  The  Saviour  gives 
them  eternal  life,  and  the  end  of  their  course  "is 
everlasting  life."8  Once  fixed  thus  in  their  ce- 
lestial home,  they  will  enjoy  in  a  manner  now 
inconceivable  the  presence  of  their  God.  Of 
their  celestial  dwelling,  besides  what  has  been 
already  introduced,  the  scriptures  add;  "And  I 
saw  no  temple  therein :  for  the  Lord  God  AI- 
mighly  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it.  And 
the  city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the 
moon,  to  shine  in  it :  for  the  glory  of  God  did 
lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof. 
And  the  nations  of  them  which  are  saved  shall 
walk  in  the  light  of  it :  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 

(1)  2  Cor.  iv.  17.    (2)  Matt.  xiii.  43.    (3)  Dan.  xii.  3.   (4)  Rev.  iii.  12. 
(5)  Rev.  iii.  4.    (6)  Rev.  iii.  21.    (7)  1  Pet.  v  10.     (8)  Rom.  vi.  22. 


AND  INCONCEIVABLY  GREAT.  199 

do  bring  their  glory  and  honour  into  it.  And 
there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  any  thing  that 
defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomina- 
tion, or  maketh  a  lie  ;  but  they  which  are  written 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.'*1  "  And  he  showed 
me  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal, 
proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the 
Lamb.  In  the  midst  of  the  street  of  it,  and  on 
either  side  of  the  river,  was  there  the  tree  of  life, 
which  bare  twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and  yielded 
her  fruit  every  month  :  and  the  leaves  of  the  tree 
were  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  And  there 
shall  be  no  night  there  ;  and  they  need  no  can- 
dle, neither  light  of  the  sun  ;  for  the  Lord  God 
giveth  them  light :  and  they  shall  reign  for  ever 
and  ever."2 

9.  How  little  can  the  mind  comprehend  the 
happiness  described  in  all  this  expressive,  though 
in  some  instances  figurative  language  !  What  is 
it  to  see  God  and  dwell  with  him  !  What  is  it  to 
be  led  by  the  Lamb  to  living  fountains  of* immor- 
tal blessings !  to  be  satisfied  in  his  likeness  !  to 
possess  fuiness  of  joy  and  pleasures  for  ever 
more!  to  enjoy  incorruptible  and  unfading  in- 
heritances !  and  to  be  honoured  with  crowns  of 
righteousftss  of  glory  and  life  that  never  fade 
away  !  What  is  it  to  possess  a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  a  glory  too  great 
to  be.  described  by  the  boldest  expressions  heaped 
on  others  equally  bold,  and  continued  to  eternity  ! 
What  is  it  to  sit  down  as  a  happy  and  honoured 
conqueror  by  the  Saviour's  side !  What  is  all 
this  [  and  all  this  additional  to  other  blessings 
already  contemplated  !  to  perfect  safety  !  to  per- 

,1)  Rev.  xxi.  22,  23,  24.  27.         (2)  Rev.  xxii.  1,  2.  5. 


200      BY  RELIGION  HEAVEN  MAY  BE  SECURED. 

feet  holiness !  to  perfect  freedom  from  every  ill! 
from  every  vexing  disposition,  every  unholy  feel- 
ing, every  pain  and  every  sorrow  !  What  is  it  to 
be  all  this,  and  possess  all  this,  not  for  ages  or 
centuries  only,  but  for  periods,  compared  with 
whose  duration  the  whole  of  time,  from  the  crea- 
tion to  the  judgment  day,  would  be  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye!  Reader,  what  is  all  this  !  No  tongue 
can  express ;  no  heart  can  conceive ;  but,  you 
must  have  it  all  or  lose  it  all!  gain  it  alibi  Christ, 
or  lose  it  all  by  slighting  him!  Many  already 
possess  these  blessings.  They  have  reached  their 
home.  They  mingle  with  better  friends  than  any 
this  world  ever  gave.  They  possess  what  formerly 
they  sought.  Eternity  opens  to  them  no  pros- 
pects, but  prospects  bright  with  gladness  and  joy, 
in  infinite  succession.  And  who  are  these  ?  and 
whence  came  they  ?  Some  of  these  were  the  be- 
nevolent possessors  of  wealth  and  plenty  ;  but 
many  of  them  toiled  in  poverty;  yet  in  poverty 
they  were  rich.  They  laboured  in  the  field  or  the 
factory  ;  in  the  mine  or  on  the  road.  They  wept ; 
they  languished  ;  yet  in  affliction  they  were  bless- 
ed. They  watched  ;  they  prayed ;  they  fled  to 
Jesus  ;  they  followed  him  ;  and  he  has  fixed  them 
in  their  heavenly  home. 

10.  You,  reader,  are  now  in  this  world  for  a  lit- 
tle while ;  and  the  alternative  is  before  you — 
religion  here,  and  this  blissful  heaven  hereafter 
or  carelessness  here  and  hell  hereafter — religion 
and  eternal  life,  or  irreligion  and  everlasting  ruin^ 
Make  your  choice.  Decide  as  in  God's  sight ; 
but  know  you  must  decide;  and  the  decision 
is  for  eternity.  Behold  that  eternal  good,  which 
God  in  his  word,  has  graciously  unveiled  to  your 


APPEAL  ON  THE  WORTH  OF  ITS  BLESSINGS.    201 

contemplation.  See  those  mansions  of  peace  ! 
those  crowns  of  life !  that  blessedness  which 
flows  in  an  eternal  stream  !  Behold  those  happy- 
immortals  !  many  of  them  once  poor,  despised, 
and  suffering-,  now  so  changed  !  Hearken  to  the 
praises  which  they  render !  to  the  anthems  of 
delight  they  sing  !  Witness  their  raptures  in  per- 
fect safety  !  Belonging  to  Jesus  leads  to  all  this. 
Will  you  be  his  ?  or  will  you  madly  and  wicked- 
ly refuse  ?  Would  not  heartfelt  piety  be  gainful 
to  you  beyond  expression  ?  Would  it  not  be  gain 
for  you  to  dwell  with  God  ?  to  appear  cleansed 
by  the  Saviour's  sacrifice  from  every  crime  and 
every  fault?  and  to  be  presented  by  him  faultless 
before  his  presence  with  exceeding  joy  ?  Would 
it  not  be  wealth  for  you  to  possess  immortality  ? 
to  call  heaven  and  all  its  blessings  your  own  ?  to 
have  your  low  employments  changed  for  the 
blessed  activity  of  heaven  ?  to  have  your  feeble 
and  soon  dying  voice  raised  in  celestial  praises  ? 
Would  it  not  be  blessedness  for  you  to  mingle, 
not  with  earthly  but  celestial  friends  ?  to  join  an- 
gelic bands  ?  their  Father  yours  ;  their  dwelling 
yours?  Would  it  not  be  gain  for  you  when 
"  absent  from  the  body  to  be  present  with  the 
Lord  ?"  when  a  hundred  years  hence  forgotten  in 
the  grave  to  be  a  happy  saint  in  light  ?  Would 
it  not  be  ecstasy  for  you  to  meet  the  Judge  eter- 
nal with  unmoved  tranquillity  ?  to  hear  the  ap- 
proving sentence,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord  ?" 
Would  not  all  this  be  gain  to  you  ?  and  will  you 
slight  it  all  by  slighting  Christ?  or  secure  it  all 
by  seeking  salvation  in  him  ?  Would  you  not 
"  be  wise  for  yourself/'  in  counting  all  things  loss 
s3 


202  APPEAL  CONTINUED. — JOYFUL 

that  you  may  win  Christ?  Would  it  not  appear 
that  you  were  so,  when  welcomed  to  his  king- 
dom ?  Then,  if  some  one  that  loved  you,  and 
mourned  your  departure,  could  say,  "  Come 
back,  departed  Christian,  come  again  to  earth  and 
to  us,"  what  would  bribe  you  back  ?  And  if  such 
a  request  could  possibly  be  made,  and  an  answer 
given,  would  you  not  say,  "No,  it  is  you  must 
seek  to  join  me  in  heaven  ;  for  worlds  should  not 
bribe  me  back  to  earth  ?"  and  will  you  embrace 
religion  and  secure  that  heaven  ?  or  trifle  with 
religion  and  secure  ruin?  One  you  must  do. 
Which  will  you  do  ?  Is  it  difficult  to  you  to  be- 
come decidedly  pious?  Will  not  eterral  life 
compensate  every  struggle?  Are  your  enemies 
many,  must  your  sacrifices  be  great?  still  what 
are  they  when  compared  with  the  blessings  of 
eternity  !  How  small  is  the  loss  of  what  you 
soon  must  leave  for  ever  !  How  rich  the  gain  of 
blessings  you  will  never  lose  !  How  momentary 
the  loss  !  how  eternal  the  gain  !  Even  now  the 
hope  of  heaven  would  give  you  blessings  far  great- 
er than  any  the  world  can  ever  give ;  while  you 
would  be  looking  forward  to  still  greater  good 
hereafter.  How  sweet  now  is  the  anticipation  ! 
what  will  be  the  possession!  "O  ye  blessed 
scenes  of  perfection  and  peace,  shall  ye  be  mine ! 
and  mine  soon  !  and  then  mine  for  ever!  Thou 
happy  heaven!  glorious  abode!  where  for  me 
eternal  love  has  prepared  a  mansion  of  peace,  and 
where  for  me  elder  brethren  wait ;  shall  I  soon  see 
thy  walls  of  salvation,  and  thy  gates  of  praise ! 
Ye  happy  angels  !  shall  I,  a  poor  traveller  on 
earth,  soon  be  equal  with  you,  as  blest,  as  rich, 
and  as  safe  as  you !     Thou  Lamb  of  God  !  once 


ANTICIPATION  OF  HEAVEN.  203 

slain  for  my  transgressions,  and  now  my  life, 
shall  I  soon,  Lord !  see  thee  as  thou  art,  and  wear 
thy  lovely  image !  Shall  I  have  done  with  toil 
and  care,  with  worldly  labours  and  earthly  sor- 
rows; and  all  to  me  be  rest,  and  peace,  and 
praise  !  the  enduring  calm  and  the  victory  of  hea- 
ven !  Shall  all  this  be  mine,  when  "  a  few  more 
suns  have  rolled  their  cares  away."  Then  what 
need  I  fear  the  trials  of  this  wilderness  !  To  thee, 
my  Lord,  and  to  the  heaven  thy  love  has  prepa- 
red, will  I  look  with  many  a  longing  desire.  There 
shall  I  see  thee  as  thou  art.  There  praise  thee 
better  through  eternal  days. 

"Yes,  when  these  lips  shall  cease  to  move, 
And  death  shall  close  these  eyes, 
Then  shall  my  soul  to  nobler  heights 
Of  joy  and  transport  rise  ; 
Then  shall  her  powers  in  endless  strains 
Their  grateful  tribute  pay  : 
The  theme  demands  au  angel's  tongue, 
And  an  eternal  day." 

11.  If  instead  of  being  a  decided  Christian, 
you  are  a  vain  follower  of  the  world,  what  is 
there  in  all  your  delights  that  gives  the  satisfac- 
tion inspired  by  such  a  hope  !  Will  you  seek 
it  ?  Some,  who  love  Christ,  and  are  the'pos- 
sessors  of  this  hope,  have  it  indeed  amidst 
doubts  and  fears;  but  many  with  brighter  evi- 
dence, and  all  that  live  to  him,  will  soon  possess, 
in  the  eternal  state,  all  they  anticipated,  and 
more  than  all.  How  rapturous  will  be  the  shout 
of  praise  that  will  ascend,  when  all  the  redeemed 
of  any  one  period  meet  in  the  perfect  security 
and  triumph  of  heaven  !  there  with  feelings  now 
inconceivable,  will  they  ascribe  their  salvation 


204  THE  CHRISTIAN'S  OBLIGATIONS. 

to  God  and  to  the  Lamb.  The  inspired  writer 
says,  "  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multitude  which 
no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kin- 
dreds, and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands ;  and  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Salvation  to  our  God 
which  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb  !"  "  The  harvest  is  passed,  the  summer  is 
ended,"  the  day  of  grace  is  gone,  but  they  are 
saved.  What  gratitude  will  fill  the  soul,  while 
heavenly  love  is  the  theme  of  praise !  Every 
saint  in  heaven  will  pay  to  the  Saviour  the  tri- 
bute of  praise  for  salvation.  "  I  had  never  been 
here  but  through  thy  love.  Grace  taught  my 
wandering  feet  to  tread  the  path  of  peace  and 
life;  grace  led  me  on,  and  grace  fixed  me  here." 
Happy  conqueror,  that  has  done  with  the  im- 
perfect services  of  time,  and  commenced  the 
nobler  ones  of  eternity ;  whose  sabbaths  all  are 
ended  here,  but  to  whom  an  eternal  sabbath  has 
arrived  !      Will  this  be  your  happiness  ? 

If  you  are  a  Christian  indeed,  how  deeply 
should  these  views  impress  upon  your  heart  your 
unutterable  obligations  to  your  adorable  Re- 
deemer !  Contemplate  the  ruin  from  which  he  has 
delivered  you.  Contemplate  the  blessings  he  has 
in  store  for  you  ;  and  what  do  you  not  owe  him  for 
such  a  rescue,  and  for  such  treasures,  of  whose 
value  eternity  will  be  for  ever  making  fresh  dis- 
coveries !  That  these  blessings  should  be  de- 
signed for  one  so  unworthy,  and  so  weak, 
renders  the  love  still  more  wonderful,  and 
demands  praise  and  gratitude  still  more  ardent. 

12.  In  the   preceding    pages  your  attention 


THE  SCENES  OF  THE  FUTURE  WORLD  ETERNAL.    205 

has  been  directed  to  scenes  of  woe,  or  blessed- 
ness, between   which   the  difference  is  never  to 
be  fully  comprehended  ;  but  it  is  eternity  which 
will   complete   the   misery  of  the   former,  and 
the  happiness  of  the  latter.     When  he   leaves 
this    world,    "man   goeth    to   his   long-  home." 
Strive  to  impress  upon  your  heart  the  truth,  that 
whether  your  future  abode  be  hell  or  heaven,  it 
will  be  a  long,  an   eternal  home.     You  will  not 
long  be  here.     Fees  or  friends  will  soon  be  left 
behind.     Your  present  dwelling-  will  know  you 
no  more.    The  comforts  and  pains  of  life  will 
alike  be  ended,  and  alike  be  insignificant ;  but 
eternity,  with   all  its  overwhelming  scenes,  fol- 
lows this   momentary  span  of  time.     Think  of 
eternity.     In  the  light  of  that  amazing  duration, 
what  is   worth   one  thought,    except   religion  ? 
Suppose  yourself  dead  and  fixed  in  eternity  ; 
now     what    concerns     you    except    salvation? 
Suppose  yourself  dead  for  a  thousand  years,  that 
a  thousand  years  had   passed  since  you  closed 
your  eyes   upon  this  world  ;  what  now  are  its 
concerns,  its  pleasures,  or  its  pains  ?     Are  they 
not  vain   as   a  broken  bubble,  and  lighter  than 
vanity  ?     The  time  will  come,  when,  for  a  thou- 
sand years,  you  will  have  been  mingled  with  the 
dead ;  what  then  will  this  vain,  busy,  ensnaring 
world  matter  to  you?     The  leaves  that  fell  from 
the  trees  a  thousand  years  ago,  are  not  more  in- 
significant now,  than  this  vain  world,  with  all 
its  interests,  possessions,  and  cares,  will  then  ap- 
pear to  you.     But  go  forward  in  your  thoughts, 
millions  of  years  beyond  that  period,  and  what 
will  the  world  be  to  you  then  ?     How  blest  will 


206  ETERNITY. 

you   then    be    if  eternal    life   be    yoars !    how 
wretched  if  that  good  be  lost . 

13.  Eternity  is  a  duration  that  is  long  beyond 
calculation  and  beyond  comprehension.  Think 
of  the  years  that  have  elapsed  from  the.  days  of 
Adam  to  the  present  day — eternity  is  longer. 
Think  of  those  that  may  pass  from  this  day  till 
that  when  the  judgment  trumpet  shall  sound — 
eternity  is  longer.  Look  at  the  ground  adorned 
with  its  green  carpet,  covered  with  innumerable 
millions  of  blades  of  grass — are  the  years  of  eter- 
nity as  many  ?  They  are  more — eternity  is  lon- 
ger. Look  at  the  leaves  that  clothe  the  trees  with 
verdure — are  the  years  of  eternity  countless  as 
those  leaves  ?  They  are  more — eternity  is  lon- 
ger than  such  a  period  of  ages.  Add  to  these 
years  others  as  numerous  as  the  drops  of  morning 
dew — do  these  describe  eternity  ?  No — eternity 
is  longer.  Count  the  drops  of  the  sea — will  their 
number  represent  eternal  ages  ?  No — eternity 
has  ages  far  more  countless.  These,  compared 
with  it,  are  like  a  drop  to  an  ocean.  Repeat  these 
calculations,  yet  eternity  is  longer.  Millions  by 
millions  multiplied,  give  no  idea  of  its  duration  ; 
and  all  the  years  that  human  thought  can  heap 
together,  compared  with  it,  are  insigniiicance  and 
nothing — beyond  them  all  eternity  still  stretches 
forth  its  immeasurable  duration.  This  eternity 
awaits  you. 

Eternity  is  a  duration  that  nothing  can  shorten  , 
and  that  never  can  end.  Time  has  an  end ; 
eternity  has  none.  The  period  daily  ap- 
proaches nearer,  when  the  end  of  time  shall  be 
announced.  The  last  spring  that  shall  cheer  the 
earth  with  its  bloom,  will   have  passed  away  ; 


THE  JOYS  AND  SORROWS  OF  ETERNITY.   £0? 

the  last  summer  will  have  ended;  the  last 
autumn  have  finished ;  the  last  harvest  this 
earth  shall  ever  produce  be  reaped;  and  the 
last  winter  have  concluded.  Time's  last  year 
will  have  arrived;  its  last  day;  its  last  hour; 
its  last  minute;  its  last  moment;  and  time 
shall  be  no  more :  but  no  such  end  will  arrive 
to  close  eternity.  Let  thousands  of  ages  pass 
away,  eternity  is  not  shortened.  Let  millions 
more,  and  worlds  of  millions  roll  along,  eternity 
remains  the  same.  As  long,  as  blest,  as  happy 
or  as  dreadful  and  miserable  as  ever. 

14.  As  it  is  with  the  duration  of  eternity,  so 
it  is  with  its  blessings  and  its  sorrows.  The  joys 
and  sorrows  of  time  have  an  end ;  but  those  of 
eternity  have  none.  Time  brings  an  end  to  the 
Christian's  sorrows;  but  eternity  will  bring  no 
end  to  his  joys.  Did  he  sigh  ?  there  was  a  last 
sigh.  Had  he  pangs  of  grief?  there  was  a  last 
pang,  and  a  last  grief.  Did  he  weep  ?  there  was 
a  last  tear.  Had  he  struggles  ?  there  was  a  last 
struggle.  Did  he  pine  in  poverty  ?  there  was  a 
last  day  of  want.  But  in  eternity  there  will  be 
no  last  joy ;  no  last  rapture  ;  no  last  song  of 
praise  ;  no  last  thanksgiving  for  redeeming  love. 
On  earth,  among  Christian  friends,  time  brought 
a  last  meeting,  and  a  last  parting ;  a  last  dying 
look,  and  a  last  farewell :  but  eternity  will  bring- 
no  last  meeting,  no  last  look,  no  dying  eye. 

As  it  is  with  the  pious,  thus,  but  in  an  awfully 
opposite  manner,  it  will  be  with  the  ungodly. 
Time  will  bring  to  the  sinner  a  last  trifling  day 
or  festive  night,  a  last  pleasure,  and  a  last  hour  of 
sinful  gaiety  ;  but  eternity  will  bring  no  last  pain, 
no  last  sorrow.     The  sinner's  pleasures  will  end, 


208  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  TO 

but  not  his  pains ;  his  joys,  but  not  his  griefs ; 
his  gain,  but  not  his  loss.  O  reader,  think  of  this 
solemn  eternity  !  and  in  the  view  of  it  choose  that 
good  part  which  should  never  be  taken  away  from 
you  !  You  may  look  forward,  and  in  imagina- 
tion see  yourself  leaving  this  world  ;  your  funeral 
over  ;  your  body  in  a  coffin,  and  that  coffin  in  the 
grave  ;  and  after  a  i'exv  years  yourself  so  forgotten 
there,  that  no  one  on  earth  will  know  you  ever 
existed ;  but  then  you  will  be  in  eternity.  Before 
your  friends  have  laid  you  in  the  grave,  your  im- 
mortal spirit  will  have  begun  to  experience  the 
joys  or  sorrows  of  eternity.  Happy  they  who 
enjoy  the  Saviour's  grace !  and  who,  when  they 
quit  this  world,  are  welcomed  by  him  to  "  ever- 
lasting habitations  !" 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED  TO  NEGLECTORS  OF 
RELIGION  ;  AND  THE  FOLLY  AND  INEXCUSABLE- 
NESS  OF  DELAY. 

1.  Perhaps,  reader,  you  are  one  of  that  unhap- 
py multitude  that  still  crowd  the  broad  way 
which  leads  to  destruction  ;  and  upon  whom  all 
that  has  hitherto  been  urged,  has  been  urged  in 
vain.  Let  the  writer  then,  before  he  leaves  you 
for  ever,  earnestly  beg  your  attention  to  a  few 
plain  questions  connected  with  the  subjects  of 
the  preceding  pages,  and  with  your  eternal  inte- 
rests. 

Is  not  your  soul  worth  saving  ?  That  precious 
treasure  for  which  the  Son  of  God  shed  his  blood 


NF.GLECTORS  OF  RELIGION.   '  209 

and  whose  conversion  would  raise  new  joy  in 
heaven,  is  it  not  worth  your  care  ?  If  it  is,  why 
do  you  treat  that  deathless  soul  as  if  it  mattered 
nothing  whether  it  be  saved  or  lost,  blessed  or 
cursed,  to  all  eternity  !  Yet  this  you  do,  while 
refusing  to  commit  your  all  to  the  Saviour's  care. 

2.  Is  not  God's  love  worth  having  ?  That  love 
perfects  the  happiness  of  saints  and  angels.  In 
it  they  rejoice  and  ever  rejoice ;  and  the  want  of 
that  love  insures  the  hopeless  misery  of  the  lost. 
If  the  world  were  yours,  you  would  be  an  undone 
creature  without  that  love  ;  and  if  stripped  of 
every  earthly  good,  would  be  happy  if  possessed 
of  that  treasure.  And  will  you,  a  poor  dying 
mortal,  that  will  soon,  unless  you  repent,  be  a 
dead  sinner,  and  a  condemned  sinner,  will  you 
treat  that  love  with  as  much  disregard  as  if  it 
were  deserving  only  of  infinite  contempt  ?  yet 
this  you  do  while  you  will  not  turn  to  God. 

3.  Is  God's  heaven  worth  possessing,  and  his 
salvation  worth  enjoying  ?  or  is  it  not?  If  it  is, 
why  do  you  madly  neglect  so  great  salvation, 
and  obstinately  slight  that  blessed  heaven  ? 
Would  you  wish  God  to  swear,  in  his  wrath, 
that  you  shall  not  enter  into  his  rest  ?  and  that 
whoever  may  enjoy  salvation  you  shall  have 
no  part  in  its  blessings  ?  Would  you  not  think 
this  a  direful  doom  indeed  ?  yet  is  it  not  as  bad 
to  deprive  your  own  soul  of  salvation,  by  wicked 
carelessness,  by  open  sin,  or  by  halting  between 
two  opinions,  as  it  would  be  for  God  to  shut  you 
out  of  heaven  ?  Rather  is  it  not  worse  ?  Will 
not  such  a  wilful  loss  of  salvation  be  connected 
with  more  bitter  remorse  and  more  self-accusing 
agony,  than  its  loss  in  any  other  way  could  pos- 

T 


210  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

sibly  be?  Will  it  not  deepen  the  gloom  of  eter- 
nal night  to  remember,  that  the  fair  inheritance  of 
heaven  was  lost  to  you,  not  because  God  was  un- 
willing you  should  be  saved,  but  by  yoar  own 
sin  and  folly,  because  you  would  not  seek  salva- 
tion. 

4.  Is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  Saviour  and 
a  friend,  not  worthy  of  your  regard  ?  Perhaps  you 
would  exclaim,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  in- 
dulge so  wicked  and  horrible  a  notion  !"  But 
while  you  refuse  him  your  heart,  you  treat  him 
as  if  you  indulged  it ;  and  though  you  will  not 
say,  with  your  lips,  that  he  is  unworthy  of  atten- 
tion, yet  you,  as  it  were,  say  this  by  a  careless  un- 
godly life  ;  and  by  persevering,  in  spite  of  warn- 
ings and  entreaties,  in  making  light  of  this  great 
Saviour.  When  you  make  light  of  earthly  objects, 
it  is  of  trifles,  not  of  treasures  ;  of  persons  mean 
and  inconsiderable,  not  great  and  honourable  : 
and  when  you  make  light  of  Christ,  whatever  you 
may  say,  or  may  profess  to  mean,  you  are  guilty 
of  the  horrible  crime  of  treating  the  Lord  of  hea- 
ven, as  if  he  did  not  deserve  your  notice,  though 
you  are  but  a  dying  worm  ;  and  of  practically 
despising,  as  unworthy  of  regard,  the  Author  and 
Giver  of  salvation. 

5.  Is  God's  anger  so  trifling,  and  his  indigna- 
tion so  harmless,  that  escape  from  them  is  not 
worth  your  care  ?  You  will  not  assert  that  this 
is  the  case  ;  why  then,  unhappy  mortal,  trifle 
with  that  dreadful  anger  ?  and  play,  by  neglect- 
ing salvation,  with  that  fiery  indignation  ?  No- 
thing is  so  dreadful  as  the  deserved  anger  of  a 
long  patient  but  incensed  God.  Though  he  is 
love  itself  to  the  penitent,  who  seeks  his  mercy, 


TO  NEGLECTORS  OF  SALVATION.      211 

to  the  careless  neglector  he  will  be  a  consuming 
fire  ;  his  wrath  will  burn  to  the  lowest  hell.     If 
once  the  flaming  sword  of  divine  justice  be  let 
loose  against  you,  hope  and  escape  w  ili  for  ever 
be  impossible.     If  once  the  long  gathering  tem- 
pest of  divine  wrath,  break  on  your  guilty  and 
devoted  head,  it  will  "  beat  upon  your  naked  soul 
in  one  eternal  storm ;"  and  God  will,  for  ever, 
"  render  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and 
anguish"  to   you,   an  unhappy   worm,  because 
you  would  not  receive  his  proffered  mercy,  wel- 
come  his  beloved  Son,  and   become  his   happy 
and  obedient  child.     Oh  if,  through  sin  and  folly, 
this  should  ever  be  your  unhappy  lot,  you  will 
know  too  late  that  all  which  man  esteems  most 
appalling  here,  is  mild  and  harmless  compared 
with  the  deserved  wrath  of  a  just  and  holy  God  ! 
6.  Is  it  not  worth  your  while  to  escape  from 
hell  ?  is  that  place  of  torment  so  little  to  be  feared, 
that  you  may  heedlessly  rush  into  its  undying 
flames  ?     Can  you  dwell  with  everlasting  burn- 
ings ?     Will  the  pleasures  of  sin,  and  the  pur- 
suits of  folly,  recompense  you  for  enduring  the 
flames  of  damnation  ?      Before   you  rush   into 
those  flames  try  to  ascertain.     Put  one  finger  in 
a  candle's  blaze,  and  hold  it  there  till  the  fleeh  is 
consumed,  and  the   bones    appear.      For  what 
would  you  do  this  ?     Not  for  a  trifling  reward. 
But  for  what  would  you  hold  your  hand  in  a  fire 
till  it  were  consumed  ?  or  for  what  would  you 
rush  into    a   blazing   furnace    to    perish  in   its 
flames  ?    Would  you  for  the  whole  world  ?    Yet 
what  is  that  fire,  that  would  be  extinguished  in  an 
hour,  to  the  fire  "  that  never  shall  be  quenched  ?" 
So    surely    as  God    is  true,    while    you    sl'ght 


212  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

religion,  thither  you  are  going,  whether  yon  mean 
to  win  perdition  or  mean  it  not;  and  if  you  do 
not  turn,  there  will  you  soon  lift  up  your  eyes  in 
torments.  Unhappy  mortal !  if  you  should, 
surely  the  remembrance  of  abused  mercies  and 
Deflected  warnings,  will  complete  the  bitterness 
of  your  cup  of  misery.  Hell,  in  every  view,  will 
be  horrid,  but  surely  it  will  be  a  dreadful  addi- 
tion to  its  horrors  to  be  compelled  to  reflect,  "I 
sunk  myself  here.  I  need  never  have  come  to 
this  place  of  misery.  God  waited  on  me,  but  I 
would  not  listen.  A  Saviour  died,  but  I  would 
not  give  my  heart  to  him.  I  chose  the  path  of 
death,  and  the  sorrows  that  I  now  endure." 

7.  What  then  do  you  mean  in  neglecting  the 
salvation  of  your  soul  ?  Perhaps  you  mean  to 
repent  hereafter ;  but  before  that  time  comes,  you 
may  be  in  the  grave;  or  God  may  have  given  you 
over  to  a  hardened  heart,  and  may  have  no  mer- 
cy for  you.  He  may  have  sworn  that  you  shall 
not  enter  into  his  rest.  What  do  you  mean  ? 
Perhaps  you  mean  to  follow  the  world,  and  unite 
religion  with  its  pursuit.  Alas  !  you  cannot  do 
this.  No  man  can  "serve  God  and  mammon." 
You  may  keep  the  world  and  hell  with  it ;  but 
not  the  world  and  religion  with  it. 

8.  Do  you  mean  to  perish  ?  Have  you  made 
up  your  mind  to  sink  to  hell,  to  "curse  God  and 
die"  eternally  ?  No  !  you  have  not ;  you  have  no 
such  intention.  But  you  might  as  wrell  design 
this,  as  take  the  way  to  perdition.  You  may  not 
mean  to  perish  ;  but  if  you  slight  the  Saviour  you 
must  perish.  You  may  not  design  to  be  damned; 
but  if  you  neglect  religion  you  must.  You  may 
not  intend  to  lose  heaven  and  burn  in  hell ;  but  if 


TO  NEGLECTORS  OF  SALVATION.      213 

you  do  not  turn  to  God  you  must  do  both.  What 
you  mean  will  weigh  nothing  at  the  judg- 
ment bar.  The  inquiry  will  not  be,  "Did  this 
sinner  mean  to  go  to  hell?'"  but  "Did  he  take 
the  way  thither?"  "Did  he  intend  to  lose  hea- 
ven?" but  "Did  he  make  light  of  the  only  Sa- 
viour, that  could  raise  him  to  eternal  life  ?"  If 
you  set  out  on  a  journey  to  London,  but  took 
a  road  that  led  you  further  from  that  city,  it  would 
be  vain  to  say,  "  I  intend  this  road  shall  take  me 
to  London,"  when  every  step  left  you  more  dis- 
tant than  the  preceding ;  and  if  a  friend  were 
to  say  to  you,  "Every  step  you  take  you  are  get- 
ting further  from  the  place  towards  which  you 
profess  to  travel,"  it  would  make  you  seem  beside 
yourself,  to  be  offended  with  your  friend,  and  to 
affirm,  "  I  am  travelling  towards  London,"  when 
all  who  knew  the  road  saw  you  were  getting  fur- 
ther and  further  away.  Just  as  vain  is  it,  to  hope 
to  go  to  heaven  while  you  slight  the  only  Sa- 
viour ;  and  not  to  intend  to  go  to  hell,  while  you 
take  the  way  that  leads  to  that  abyss  of  woe. 
You  might  as  well  at  once  mean  to  perish ; 
make  up  your  mind  to  be  lost ;  and  seriously 
and  deliberately  choose  everlasting  perdition  ;  as 
trifle  with  God  and  eternity,  with  the  Saviour  and 
salvation ;  or  live  in  an  undecided  state,  halting 
between  the  Saviour  and  the  world.  You  could 
but  perish  in  the  former  case ;  and  you  will  sure- 
ly perish  in  the  latter.  If  you  do  not  feel  your 
danger,  insensibility  will  not  ward  it  off.  While 
you  are  without  Christ  you  may  sleep  ;  but  your 
judgment  lingerelh  not,  and  your  damnation 
slumbereth  not. 

9.  If  you  do  not  mean  to  perish,  and  if  inde- 
t3 


214  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

cision  will  ruin  you  as  surely  as  if  you  did  ; 
Can  you  be  saved  as  you  are  ?  If  you  are  still 
the  character  addressed  in  this  chapter,  this  is 
utterly  impossible.  "  God  is  not  a  man  that  he 
should  lie,  neither  the  son  of  man  that  he  should 
repent:"1  Let  God  be  true  if  every  man  be  a 
liar.*  But  if  God  is  true,  it  is  not  possible  for 
you  to  be  saved  without  repentance,  for  the  Lord 
has  said,  "Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."3  "The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 
hell."4  It  is  not  possible,  for  you  to  be  saved 
without  conversion,  for  He  who  is  the  truth,  has 
said,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again.  Verily  verily  I 
say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."5  Therefore  to 
hope  to  be  saved  in  an  unconverted  state,  is  a 
desperate  and  wicked  hope  indeed.  It  is  to  hope 
something  so  horrid,  that  resolution  is  needed, 
to  bring  the  pen  to  write  it  down.  It  is,  with 
reverence  be  it  spoken,  to  hope  that  the  God  of 
truth  and  love  will  prove  a  liar,  to  save  a  sinner 
in  his  sins  ;  and  to  save  a  sinner  in  his  sins,  that 
might  be  saved  from  them,  but  that  ivill  not  turn 
to  God.  O  what  a  desperate  and  wicked  hope  is 
a  hope  that  includes  all  this  !  Yet  this  is  your 
hope  if  you  hope  to  be  saved  unconverted  as 
you  are.  Surely  Satan  has  begotten  and  now 
nourishes  your  guilty  hope. 

1 0.  If  you  cannot  be  saved  as  you  are,  can 
you  find  another  way  of  salvation  ?  Blessed  be 
God  !  in  the  Gospel  there  is  one  equal  to  all 
your  wants  and  state,  but  that  one  you  slight. 
You  are  not  willing  to  receive  the  Saviour  in  his 

(1)  Numb,  xxiii.  19.         (2)  Rom.  iii.  4.         (3)  Luke,  xiii.  H. 
t  (4)  Pialm,  ix,  17.  (5)  John,  iii.  5.  7. 


TO  NEGLECTORS  OF  SALVATION.      215 

own  way.  Is  there  then  another  path  to  heaven? 
Ah  no,  "  there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven 
given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved."1 
The  scriptures  represent  the  salvation  of  every 
one  that  slights  the  only  Saviour  as  hopeless. 
**  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned/'2 
"  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay,  than  that  is 
laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus  :"3  there  is  no  escape 
;f  we  neglect  so  great  salvation. 

11.  If  you  knew  this  were  your  last  day, 
would  you  continue  to  slight  this  precious  sal- 
vation ?  If  you  had  reason  to  believe  that  when 
at  night  you  close  your  eyes  to  sleep,  you  would 
wake  in  eternity,  could  you  then  pursue  your 
guilty  course  of  sin  and  folly  ?  Yet  little  as  you 
expect  it,  this  may  be  the  case.  Not  long  ago, 
the  writer  knew  a  tradesman  apparently  vigorous 
and  to  be  feared  a  man  of  the  world,  who  was  on 
a  journey.  He  spent  the  evening  at  an  inn. 
He  was  fond  of  company,  was  cheerful  that 
night  and  sat  up  later  than  usual.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  did  not  rise,  and  some  one  entered  his 
chamber.  There  he  lay  a  corpse.  His  bed  was 
unruffled,  and  he  appeared  to  have  died  without 
a  struggle  ;  probably  while  asleep.  How  solemn 
the  change  !  Such  has  been  the  lot  of  multitudes, 
and  it  may  soon  be  yours.  And  if  it  should, 
with  what  awful  surprise,  will  eternity  open  on 
your  unpardoned  spirit  !  Multitudes  every 
morning  awake  on  earth,  in  one  place  or  other, 
that  before  the  evening  comes  have  finished  their 
course,  and  are  gone  to  meet  their  God.  Every 
setting  sun,  many  are  found  inhabitants  o[  this 
world,  who  before  that  tan  rises  again,  are  fixed 

.  V    (1)  Attf,  ir.  12.  (2)  Maic,  xvi.  16..         (3)  I  Cor.  iii.  II  ^ 


216      SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

beyond  hope  or  fear  in  an  eternal  slate.  More 
than  eighty  thousand  human  beings  are  sup. 
posed  to  pass  into  eternity  every  four  and  twenty 
hours.  How  soon  among  these  crowds,  may  you 
be  one  ! 

12.  IP  God  were  to  number  all  your  sins,  and 
to  set  them  all  in  array  he  Tore  you,  would  you 
say,  "  I  scorn  pardon,  I  will  keep  them  all  ?"  One 
of  them  unpardoned  would  undo  you  for  ever ; 
whet  will  all  the  load  1  Yet,  if  they  are  not 
forgiven.  God  at  another  day  will  set  them  all  in 
array  against  you  You  would  not  say,  "  I 
scorn  pardon.  1  will  keep  them  all."  Yet  you 
might  as  well  solemnly  and  deliberately  de- 
clare this,  as  slight  the  Saviour  and  neglect  his 
pardoning  grace.  Were  you  to  be  so  infatuated 
as  to  make  such  a  declaration,  you  could  but 
keep  all  your  sins  ;  you  could  but  perish  in  them  : 
and  if  you  will  not  come  to  Christ  you  will  keep 
all  your  sins  ;  you  will  assuredly  perish  in  them ; 
and  where  in  the  end  will  be  the  difference? 
You  would  tremble  to  express  such  a  horrid  re- 
solution as  that  of  scorning  pardon,  and  clinging 
to  your  guilt ;  yet  you  do  as  bad  ;  and  will  be  as 
deeply  ruined,  merely  by  neglecting  or  refusing 
to  yield  yourself  to  the  mighty  Saviour. 

53.  If  you  could  have  seen  the  Saviour  suffer- 
ing on  the  cross,  could  have  beheld  his  over- 
whelming sorrows,  his  bloody  sweat,  his  thorny 
crown,  his  pierced  hands,  feet,  and  side ;  and 
could  then  have  heard  him  utter  the  mournful 
cry,  "  My  God  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
n»e  ;>r  if  after  this  you  could  have  seen  him  bow 
his  head  and  die  ;  would  you  have  slighted  his 
dying  sorrows,  and  still  have  treated  him  with 


TO  N  EG  LECTORS  OF  SALVATION.      217 

wicked  disregard?  If  God  would  now  present 
to  your  view,  c  miraculous  representation  of 
these  sorrows  of  his  Son,  and  would  say  to  you, 
"  Sinner,  all  this  was  borne  on  thy  account." 
Would  you  say,  "  I  know  it  was  ;  but  I  will  re- 
ceive no  benefit  from  it  all  ?  I  will  return  this 
Saviour  nothing  but  ingratitude  :  He  shall  be 
no  Saviour  to  me,  nor  will  I  ever  be  a  follower 
of  his  °"  Surely  nothing  would  bribe  you  to 
utter  such  a  declaration  ;  or  if  you  tried,  your 
trembling  tongue  would  hardly  be  able  to  ex- 
press the  horrid  resolution.  But  did  not  Christ 
die  as  really  as  if  you  saw  him  die  ?  Were  not 
his  sorrows  as  heavy,  as  if  you  had  witnessed 
them?  Was  not  his  love  as  great,  as  if  you  had 
seen  its  disp^ys  ?  And  will  it  not  be  the  same 
thing  at  last,  to  refuse  him  your  heart  in  one 
way  as  in  another  ?  If  that  dreadful  deed  is 
done,  it  matters  not  whather  you  do  it  by  insulting 
icords,  or  a  careless  or  ungodly  life.  If  you  do 
not  unfeignedly  receive  Christ,  he  is  in  effect 
refused  by  you  :  and  it  is  that  ivicked  refusal, 
not  the  manner  in  ivhich  it  is  made,  that  must  seal  all 
your  guilt  upon  you,  and  undo  your  soul  for  ever. 
If  a  physician  offered  his  help  to  two  persons  ill 
of  the  plague,  and  one,  with  insult,  rejected  his 
aid,  and  the  other  complimented  the  physician 
as  his  friend  and  benefactor,  yet  completely 
disregarded  his  advice,  and  slighted  his  healing 
medicines,  the  one  would  die  as  much  unaided 
and  as  certainly  as  the  other.  So  whether  you 
slight  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  sufferings  by  open 
scorn,  or  slight  them  by  neglecting  the  great 
salvation,  the  effect  will  be  the  same.  You  and 
the  scornful  are  going  alike  to  the  same  place  of 


218  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

ruin;  though  you  are  taking  rather  different 
ways  to  hell ;  and  what  will  be  the  difference  at 
last  ?  If  one  man  suffer  death  for  committing1  a 
hundred  murders,  and  another  for  committing 
one,  the  gallows  is  the  same,  and  death  is  the 
same  ;  nor  would  it  avail  for  the  less  guilty  cri- 
minal to  plead  "  I  have  not  sinned  to  the  same 
extent  as  my  fellow  sufferer."  So  if  some  perish 
for  blaspheming  Christ,  and  you  should  perish 
for  neglecting  him,  the  heaven  lost  to  them  and 
you  will  be  the  same ;  the  hell  incurred  will  be 
the  same ;  the  death  that  never  dies  will  be  the 
same ;  then  where  in  the  end  will  be  the  differ- 
ence ?  O  receive  Christ  entirely,  or  you  can 
have  no  part  no  lot  in  him  ! 

14.  If  you  had  seen  the  solemnities  of  the 
judgment  day,  could  you  continue  careless  of 
the  Saviour's  favour?  If  you  had  seen  the 
earth  burning ;  the  heavens  vanishing  away  ;  the 
dead  rising  ;  the  Judge  descending  ;  the  millions 
of  the  saved  exulting  in  his  favour  and  lifting 
up  their  heads  in  triumph  ;  the  millions  of  the 
lost  wailing  in  utter  despair,  and  longing  to  be 
hidden  by  burning  hills  and  melting  mountains, 
would  you  then  make  light  of  the  Saviour's 
grace  ?  Would  you  then  say,  I  will  be  content 
to  have  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season,  and 
after  this  to  stand  at  the  Judge's  left  hand,  and 
wish  for  rocks  to  cover  me,  and  wail  in  infinite 
despair  ?  If  you  had  heard  the  eternal  Judge  utter 
to  the  two  divisions  of  mankind  the  solemn  and 
decisive  words,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you,  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world  ;"  and  "Depart  from  me, 
ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire  prepared  for  the 


TO  NEGLECTORS  OF  SALVATION.  219 

devil  and  his  angels!"  could  you  then  say,  "  Ian- 
willing  to  hear  the  sentence  'Depart,  thou  cursed, 
into  everlasting  fire,'  if  I  may  but  follow  the 
world  for  a  few  short  years?"  Yet  you  will  see 
all  this.  "Behold  he  cometh  in  clouds,  and 
every  eye  shall  see  him."  You  will  hear  ihe 
solemn  and  decisive  words  of  final  doom  spoken 
to  you;  and  will  you  not  then  seek  the  Judge 
as  your  .Saviour  and  your  friend  ? 

15.  Tf  you  could  see  hell  opened  to  your  view; 
could  behold  the  outer  darkness  ;  the  burning 
flame ;  the  tormented  captives ;  the  infernal 
spirits,  that  toss  and  howl  in  misery  there ; 
would  you  then  be  intent  on  taking  the  way  to 
that  abyss  of  agony  ?  If  some  angelic  messen- 
ger could  say  to  you  "  Look  at  those  flames,  hear 
those  curses,  hearken  to  those  groans,  these  are 
the  curses  and  groans  of  neglectors  like  thee;" 
"Would  you  say,  "And  I  will  join  them  soon; 
I  will  not  escape  this  flaming  prison,  I  will  have 
my  portion  there  ?"  You  would  rather  trem- 
ble with  horror  and  dread  lest  you  should  be 
cast  into  that  pit  of  despair.  Yet  you  might  as 
well  make  such  a  declaration  as  merely  neglect 
and  slight  the  Saviour.  You  could  but  sink  to 
hell  if  you  vowed  to  go  there,  and  neglecting 
Christ,  if  there  be  nothing  worse,  will  conduct 
you  to  the  same  abode.  You  cannot  see  these 
regions  of  misery  and  these  sights  of  woe  ;  but 
if  you  continue  a  careless  impenitent  sinner,  so 
surely  as  God  speaks  true,  you  shortly  must. 
Yes,  you  must  embrace  Religion,  or  you  must  shortly 
see  it  all ;  and  more  than  see  it,  must  sink  into 
the  pit. 

16.  If  you  could  see  the  wicked  one,  furious 


220  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

with  infernal  rage,  and  could  hear  him  say, 
"You  are  mine,  you  are  doing  my  will;  you 
are  accomplishing  my  purposes,  and  you  will 
soon  be  with  me  ;"  would  you  not  almost  die 
through  fear  of  dying  the  slave  of  such  a  horrid 
tormentor?  Yet  will  you  not  believe  God,  as 
readily  as  Satan  ?  tmd  if  you  will  believe  God, 
you  must  believe,  that  while  you  have  no  heart- 
felt piety,  you  are  a  child  of  the  devil.  You  are 
doing  his  will  in  a  life  of  carelessness  and  sin. 
He  seeks  the  damnation  of  your  soul ;  and  while 
you  slight  Christ,  you  are  accomplishing  his  in- 
fernal desires.  Every  prayerless  day  you  live; 
every  warning  you  slight ;  every  sabbath  you 
break;  every  conviction  you  overcome  ;  you  are 
-doing  the  will  of  the  wicked  one.  Could  he 
speak  to  you,  he  would  tell  you  to  disregard  this 
volume  ;  and  to  slight  all  the  advice  and  warn- 
ings it  contains.  And  shall  Satan  have  his  way  ? 
or  will  you  disappoint  his  hellish  desires  by 
turning  to  God  ? 

17.  If  looking  into  the  pit  of  perdition  you 
could  hear  the  lost,  amid  the  wailings  of  their 
distress,  address  you,  and  say,  te  W  e  were  once 
like  you,  and  you  will  soon  be  like  us  ;  you  are 
taking  the  way  which  brought  us  here ;  and 
shortly  you  will  join  us,  and  be  all  that  we  are 
now  ;,r  could  you  hear  this,  would  you  still  go  on 
in  carelessness  ?  But  will  you  not  believe  God 
as  soon  as  a  lost  spirit  ?  He  tells  you  in  his 
word,  that  if  you  do  not  turn  you  must  die  ;  and 
that  if  )7ou  die  in  sin  you  will  wake  in  hell  ;  and 
will  you  not  believe  Him  ?  and  if  you  do  believe 
Him,  why  flee  you  not  from  the  wrath  to  come  ? 

18.  If  you  could  see  heaven,  and  it  could  be 


TO  NEGLECTORS  OF  SALVATION.      221 

said  to  you,  "  Follow  Christ,  and  this  shall  be 
your  home  ;"  would  you  say,  "  No,  it  shall  not, 
I  will  have  hell  in  preference  ;  let  those  who  like 
it  seek  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  hell  and  its  hor- 
rors are  my  choice  ?"  But  is  not  heaven  as  truly 
the  world  of  happiness  as  if  you  saw  it  ?  and 
are  not  many  now  enjoying  its  blessings?  and 
will  you  not  as  really  lose  it  by  neglect,  as  if  you 
were  to  say,  "  I  will  have  no  home  there  ?" 

19.  If  you  could  see  the  saints  in  light,  could 
behold  their  peaceful  mansions  and  unfading 
crowns,  and  could  witness  all  their  unalloyed 
happiness  ;  and  if  one  of  them  could  say  to  you, 
"  Follow  Christ,  and  you  will  soon  be  like  us ;" 
would  you  say,  "  No,  I  will  not  follow  him  ;  I 
will  never  seek  either  your  Saviour  or  your 
home  ?"  Would  you,  for  the  world,  utter  in 
words  such  a  declaration  ?  Yet  it  will  come  to 
the  same  thing  at  last,  whether  you  resolve  never 
to  go  to  their  home,  or  live  careless  of  him  who 
would  lead  you  thither.  Would  such  a  view, 
and  such  a  declaration  from  a  saint  in  light,  in- 
duce you  to  seek  the  Saviour's  grace  ?  and  will 
you  not  seek  this,  when  the  God  and  Father  of 
those  saints  tells  you  of  a  happy  heaven  ;  and 
promises,  that  if  you  receive  his  Son,  that  hea- 
ven shall  soon  be  yours  ?  will  you  not  listen  to 
his  words  of  mercy  ? 

20.  If  you  had  not  merely  seen  heaven  and 
hell,  but  had  felt  for  one  hour  what  the  blest 
enjoy,  and  what  the  lost  suffer,  would  you  then 
•think  any  thing  too  hard  to  be  endured,  or  too 
valuable  to  be  resigned  for  Christ  ?  Would  one 
hour  spent  in  heaven,  or  one  hour  in  hell,  work  such 
a  change  in  you,  and  will  you  not  let  the  consi- 


222  SERIOUS  QUESTIONS  PROPOSED 

deration,  that  you  must  pass  not  one  hour  only, 
but  all  eternity  amidst  the  raptures  of  heaven  or 
the  horrors  of  hell,  have  any  effect  upon  your 
mind  ?  Is  it  not  as  certain  as  God's  truth  can 
make  it,  that  you  must  soon  be  in  one  or  the 
other  of  those  opposite  worlds  ?  And  shall  this 
weigh  nothing  with  you  ?  Will  you  exercise  no 
forethought,  when  eternal  interests  are  depend- 
ing ?  Some  insects  in  summer  prepare  food  for 
their  winter  supply  ;  and  will  you  exercise  no 
care,  when  an  eternity  without  one  blessing  is 
before  you,  unless  you  secure  those  blessings 
nowr  ?  Will  you  never  so  believe  in  hell,  as  to 
have  a  concern  to  flee  from  it,  till  you  are  sinking 
into  it,  or  till  you  feel  its  fire  ?  Will  you  never 
so  believe  in  heaven,  as  to  seek  its  blessings  till 
you  see  those  blessings  lost  for  ever,  and  the  im- 
passable gulf  fixed  between  you  and  happiness  P 
O  debase  not  thus  the  rational  powers  that  God 
has  given  you  !  nor  thus  ruin  your  own  immor- 
tal soul  ! 

21.  Is  the  service  of  the  devil  so  good,  and 
honourable,  and  profitable,  that  you  should  be 
unwilling  to  renounce  it  ?  What  is  the  honour  ? 
Perhaps  the  applause  of  a  few  deluded  and,  in 
truth,  miserable  beings,  led  captive  by  Satan  at 
his  will.  What,  is  the  gain  ?  A  few  brutish 
pleasures,  suited  to  a  debased  and  fallen  nature  ; 
or  a  few  years  of  carelessness  and  trifling  gaiety. 
And  is  this  all  that  you  gain  ?  Yes,  all,  the  very 
utmost.  And  what,  is  the  gain  of  Satan's  service 
hereafter?  Remorse  and  despair;  wailing  and 
agony  ;  eternal  night  and  the  depths  of  hell.  And 
is  this  the  service  you  are  so  backward  to  leave? 
And  what  is  the  loss  connected  with  this  service? 


TO  NEGLECTORS  OF  SALVATION.  223 

The  favour  of  God  ;  the  love  of  Christ ;  the  joys 
of  heaven  ;  glory,  honour,  and  immortality  ;  all 
that  blesses  angels  in  light ;  all  that  enriches 
saints  in  glory.  And  will  you  encounter  all  this 
loss,  to  all  eternity,  for  the  low  reward  that  Sa- 
tan's service  can  give  you,  through  a  moment  of 
time  P 

22.  Why  then  are  you  so  loath  to  yield  your- 
self to  God  ?  so  backward  to  welcome  Christ  as 
your  Lord  and  Saviour  ?  This  is  what  all  the 
saints  in  light  have  done.  And  why  should  you 
be  backward  to  become  what  all  who  have  been, 
bless  God  for  eternally,  and  think  they  never 
knew  one  happy  moment  till  they  knew  that 
grace  ?  Why  should  you  be  backward  to  be 
what  all  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  approve,  and 
only  devils  condemn  ?  The  cause  is  not  in  God, 
but  in  yourself.  It  lies  in  your  own  sinful 
heart.  But  what  a»  horrid  unwillingness  and 
backwardness  is  this!  How  sad  your  state 
while  under  its  influence  !  while  you  are  back- 
ward to  love  and  serve  a  God  so  good  and  kind ! 
backward  to  follow  such  a  Saviour  !  unwilling 
to  leave  the  infernal  spirit's  service!  unwilling 
to  be  holy  !  backward  to  be  happy  !  unwilling  to 
take  the  only  way  that  can  raise  you  to  heaven, 
and  keep  you  from  hell  !  in  fine,  unwilling  to 
leave  all  that  God  hates,  and  that  the  devil  loves  ; 
and  that  has  already  ruined  millions  !  O,  what 
cause  you  have  to  deplore  before  God  this  wick- 
ed backwardness  !  this  horrid  unwillingness  to  be 
pious,  and  thus  be  blest !  O,  what  cause  you 
have  for  confessing,  that  your  heart  is  indeed 
desperately  wicked  ! 

23.  But  perhaps  your  purpose  is  delay.    You 


224  DELAY— AND  QUESTIONS 

cannot  bring  yourself  to  think  of  always  living, 
and  at  length  dying  without  God ;  but  you 
hope  to  seek  him  hereafter.  You  are  perhaps 
young ;  or  if  not  young,  vigorous  and  full  of  busi- 
ness; or  you  look  forward  to  a  future  time,  when 
you  may  repent  and  turn  to  God.  This  is  a 
fatal  delusion.  No  time  will  be  better  than  the 
present.  "Behold  now  is  the  accepted  time, 
behold  now  is  the  day  of  salvation."1  Think 
therefore : — 

24.  Have  not  millions  sunk  to  hell  through 
delaying  ?  Are  not  multitudes  now  in  hell,  that 
never  meant  to  perish,  but  only  meant  to  do 
what  you  are  doing,  to  delay  a  little  longer? 
They  did  so.  Some  were  cut  off  in  an  unex- 
pected hour,  others  grew  hardened  in  carelessness 
and  sin ;  and  the  ruin  they  would  not  flee  from 
when  they  might,  at  length  overwhelmed  them. 
O  seek  religion  now!  *The  longer  you  delay, 
the  more  hopeless  will  be  your  condition  ;  the 
more  hardened  your  heart;  and  the  less  the 
prospect  of  your  finding  mercy. 

25.  Have  you  not  delayed  long  enough 
already?  How  old  are  you?  Perhaps  you 
have  seen  forty  or  fifty  years ;  perhaps  not  more 
than  fifteen  or  twenty.  Whatever  has  been  the 
length  of  your  past  life,  has  it  not  been  long 
enough  for  the  service  of  sin  and  satan  ?  Has  it 
not  been  long  enough  for  heaping  up  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath  ?  and  is  it  not  time  for 
you  to  awake  from  the  dreadful  sleep  of  sin  ? 
As  remedies  against  this  delusive  evil ;  consider 
that— 

26.  Delay  is  useless.     You  cannot  expect  an 

(1)  2  Cor.  vi.  2. 


TO  DELAYERS.  225 

easier  way  to  heaven.  God  will  not  widen  the 
strait  gate  and  the  narrow  way,  that  you  and 
other  careless  sinners  may  keep  your  careless- 
ness, and  yet  travel  in  the  path  of  life.  He  has 
declared,  in  passages  already  quoted,  that  you 
must  repent  or  perish  ;  be  converted  or  shut  out 
of  heaven ;  turn  from  sin  or  be  turned  into  hell. 

Do  you  expect  him  to  alter  those  solemn  de- 
clarations ?  and  to  lower  his  terms  of  mercy  till 
they  will  suit  your  love  of  the  world  and  folly, 
your  indifference  and  neglect  ?  O  be  not  so  de- 
luded !  God  will  not  change.  It  is  you  that 
must  be  changed.  If  every  human  being  were 
to  slight  the  proclamation  of  Gospel  mercy,  God, 
notwithstanding  all  his  love,  would  rather  let 
every  human  being  perish,  than  change  his 
gracious  overtures  to  adapt  them  to  the  vices-and 
the  lusts  of  men.  He  is  the  unchangeable  God  ; 
and  his  Gospel  is  the  everlasting  Gospel,  like  its 
Divine  Author,  "the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
for  ever."  Nor  can  you  ever  reach  heaven,  un- 
less you  are  willing  to  tread  the  same  narrow  path 
of  humble  piety  as  martyrs  and  departed  saints 
have  trod.  If  you  want  a  religion  adapted  to  the 
taste  of  worldly  men,  you  may  delude  yourself 
with  the  notion  that  you  possess  it,  and  will  then 
die  and  find  you  had  "a  lie  in  your  right  hand." 

27.  As  delay  is  useless,  so  it  is  inexcusable, 
and  connected  with  dreadful  guilt.  As  you  have 
been  reminded,  till  you  are  decidedly  a  Christian 
you  are  a  rebel,  an  enemy  to  God  and  the  Sa- 
viour ;  and  an  enemy  without  excuse,  for  there 
is  nothing  in  God  to  excuse  your  delays.  If  he 
were  unkind,  unlovely,  ungracious,  you  might 
have  some  excuse.  If  his  favour  brought  no  good, 
u3 


226   INEXCUSABLENESS  AND  WICKEDNESS  OF 

his  love  no  blessings,  you  might  be  less  guilty  in 
delaying.  But  you  have  no  excuse  of  this  kind  ; 
God  is  infinitely  lovely  and  gracious.  He  has 
been  infinitely  kind  to  you  ;  his  mercies  have 
been  numberless,  and  his  claims  upon  you  are 
as  numerous  as  those  mercies.  His  favour  is 
life,  and  his  loving-kindness  is  better  than  life. 
There  is  not  one  harsh  feature  in  his  grace,  not 
one  defect  in  his  excellencies,  to  justify  your 
neglect  of  him  for  a  single  hour  ;  nor  one  cause  in 
all  he  is,  to  excuse  your  delay  for  a  single  mo- 
ment. He  has  always  deserved  your  affections 
and  service.  He  has  always  been  worthy  of 
them.  He  has  always  justly  claimed  them,  and 
every  hour  you  delay  to  turn  to  him  is  an  hour 
of  ingratitude  and  guilt. 

28.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Saviour,  to  keep 
you  from  closing  with  his  invitations  of  mercy, 
and  giving  him  all  your  heart.  In  him  appears 
every  divine  excellence,  and  all  that  heavenly 
goodness,  which  would  win  any  heart,  except  a 
heart  embruted  by  sin,  and  governed  by  Satan. 
If,  notwithstanding  his  goodness,  there  were  any 
defect  in  him,  to  make  him  less  deserving  of  con- 
fidence and  admiration,  you  might  have  some 
excuse  for  delay  ;  but  there  is  nothing.  All  he 
has  done,  and  all  he  is,  and  all  he  says,  bids  you 
come  at  once,  and  makes  every  hour  of  delay 
an  hour  of  guilt,  for  which  there  is  no  possible 
extenuation. 

29.  There  is  nothing  in  irreligion  so  good  or 
so  gainful,  as  to  excuse  your  continuing  in  an  ir- 
religious state.  Every  hour  of  an  irreligious  life 
is  an  hour  of  sin,  of  black  rebellion  against  a  good 
God  and  gracious  Saviour.     To  have  lived  many 


DELAYING  TO  EMBRACE  RELIGION.  227 

years  in  such  a  state  is  awful ;  to  refuse  to  turn 
from  it,  and  to  perish  in  such  a  course,  is,  if  pos- 
sible, still  more  awful. 

30.  There  is  nothing  in  the  devil  so  lovely,  as 
to  excuse  your  delay  in  forsaking  his  service. 
Ycu  do  not  yourself  think  there  is.  Every  hell- 
ish deformity,  every  infernal  passion,  exists  in 
that  great  enemy  of  God  and  man.  How  inex- 
cusable is  that  miserable  man,  or  woman,  or  child, 
that  will  not  leave  the  service  of  this  hateful  mas- 
ter, for  that  of  a  good  and  gracious  Saviour ! 

3 1 .  There  is  nothing  in  your  own  state  so  good 
as  to  excuse  your  delay.  Were  you  possessed  of 
good  friends  and  great  blessings,  which  by  delay- 
ing you  might  keep,  but  by  deciding  must  lose, 
there  would  then  be  some  excuse  for  your  con- 
duct ;  and  though  very  blameable,  you  might  still 
be  pitiable ;  but  this  is  not  the  case.  While  de- 
laying to  turn  to  God,  you  possess  not  one  real 
blessing.  You  have  no  Saviour ;  no  title  to  hea- 
ven ;  no  Father  there.  You  have  no  pardon  ;  no 
well-founded  hope ;  no  bright  prospects  for  eter- 
nity. Your  state  is  one  of  guilt  and  condemna- 
tion, of  wretchedness  and  ruin.  O  fall  upon  your 
knees,  and  beg  of  God  to  bring  your  mind  to  de- 
cision, and  let  you  delay  no  longer  ! 

32.  There  is  nothing  in  delaying  itself  so  good 
as  to  excuse  you.  Delay  insults  God,  who  tells 
you  that  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.  Is  ungrate- 
ful to  Christ,  who  became  man,  "that  he  by  the 
grace  of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man,"1 
and  who  cannot  too  soon  possess  your  heart.  It 
grieves  the  Spirit  of  God.  I:  deprives  you  of 
comforts,  and  blessings,  and  hopes  that  you  might 

(!)  Oeb.  ii.  'e. 


228  WICKEDNESS  AND  DANGER 

enjoy.  It  prolongs  your  days  of  guilt  and  rebel- 
lion ;  and  increases  the  already  heavy  load  of  your 
transgressions.  It  hardens  your  own  heart ;  trains 
you  for  hell,  and,  if  you  go  on,  will  soon  fix  you 
there.  O  can  you  find  an  excuse  at  the  bar  of 
God  for  that  which  does  all  this  accumulated 
mischief,  connected  with  not  less  aggravated 
guilt? 

33.  As  thus  there  is  nothing  in  God  or  the  Sa- 
viour, in  irreligion  or  Satan,  in  your  own  state  or 
in  delaying  itself,  to  excuse  you ;  so  there  is  no- 
thing in  your  unwillingness  to  turn  to  God,  that 
can  in  the  smallest  degree  palliate  your  guilt. 
The  cause  that  you  do  not  come  to  Christ  lies  in 
your  heart.  You  are  not  willing  to  come  to  him. 
But  this  unwillingness,  instead  of  being  an  ex- 
cuse, is  the  highest  aggravation  of  all  your  guilt. 
You  are  not  only  careless  and  wicked  outwardly, 
but  more  wicked  inwardly;  and  that  is  the  foun- 
tain whence  flows  your  outward  wickedness.  To 
delay  to  turn  to  God  is  a  great  sin  ;  but  to  delay 
to  turn  to  him,  because  you  are  really  unwilling 
to  do  so,  is  a  greater.  Suppose  you  knew  a  child 
that  was  continually  rebelling  against  his  parents, 
and  disregarding  all  their  commands ;  would  you 
not  think  it  an  aggravation  of  this  child's  guilt,  if 
he  were  to  plead,  "  Father,  I  disobey  you,  because 
my  heart  is  estranged  from  you.  I  break  your 
commands,  because  I  have  no  love  whatever  to 
you  ?"  This  would  be  a  tenfold  aggravation  of 
rebellious  conduct.  Yet  such  is  your  case  ;  you 
will  not  turn  to  God,  because  you  are  estranged 
from  him,  and  this  aggravates  all  your  sin. 

34.  Thus  while  you  delay  you  are  a  rebel,  and 
a  rebel  without  excuse.     God  looks  upon  you  as 


OF  DELAYING  TO  EMBRACE  RELIGION.        229 

an  enemy  ;  and  an  enemy's  lot  is  yours.  You 
are  exposed  to  numberless  and  intolerable  evils; 
and  you  deserve  them  all,  through  your  former  sins 
and  your  present  ivicked  delay.  O  trifle  not  with 
the  declaration,  to  which  compassion  for  your 
soul  must  give  utterance;  you  ar^  deserving  of 
hell  for  every  hour  in  which  you  delay  to  turn  to 
God. 

35.  While  such  is  your  condition,  delay  is  con- 
nected with  extreme  danger. 

Nothing  keeps  you  out  of  hell  but  God's  long- 
suffering  and  patience  ;  and  how  long,  while  liv- 
ing in  such  aggravated  sins,  can  you  depend 
on  being  thus  kept  ?  You  have  not  one  claim 
on  him  to  spare  you.  Can  you  point  to  one  ? 
You  have  not  one  promise  that  he  will  continue 
to  spare  you,  nor  one  reason  justly  to  expect  it. 
Why  should  he  spare  you  ?  that  you  may  sin 
longer  ?  that  you  may  rebel  longer  ?  that  you 
may  abuse  more  mercies  ?  trample  on  more 
grace?  insult  him  longer?  treat  Christ  with  more 
ingratitude  ?  grieve  the  Spirit  more  ?  and  serve 
sin  and  the  devil  longer  ?  Can  you  justly  expect 
that  God  will  spare  you  to  do  all  this?  Can  you 
depend  on  his  sparing  you  to  do  this,  when  he 
sees  you  unwilling  to  turn  and  do  any  thing 
else  ?  And  though  you  may  be  youthful, 
vigorous,  and  healthful,  he  wants  not  instruments 
to  cut  you  down.  He  can  in  a  moment  send 
disease  into  your  frame  ;  stretch  you  on  the  bed 
of  languishing ;  lay  you  in  the  grave  ;  and  call 
your  spirit  to  his  judgment  bar. 

This  is  not  all,  your  state  is  even  worse  than 
this.  As  has  been  represented  to  you  in  a  for 
mer  chapter,  you  are,  while  uninterested  in  th  , 


230  DANGER  OF  DELAY. 

Saviour,  a  condemned  sinner.  Then  you  deserre 
to  be  cut  down.  And  while  you  have  no  claim  on 
mercy,  and  while  your  desert  is  judgment,  how  soon 
may  the  awful  doom  go  forth  against  you!  While 
you  look  for  life,  death  may  come.  God  has  been 
merciful  and  spared  you,  that  you  might  repent ; 
but,  perhaps,  this  may  be  the  last  year  of  offered 
mercy.  The  door  of  salvation  may  to  you  be 
shut  before  this  year  shall  close ;  and  should  it 
be  so,  how  changed  ere  long  will  be  your  state ! 
If  you  still  delay,  how  dreadfully  changed  !  This 
year  then  you  will  meet  your  God.  This  year  all 
your  hopes  will  end  in  black  despair  ;  and  all 
your  worldly  comforts  will  have  fled  away  for  ever. 
What  will  you  do  ?  Will  you  yield  yourself  to 
Christ  ?  Will  you  go  to  a  throne  of  grace  and 
seek  mercy  to  be  entirely  the  Lord's?  Will  you 
lay  this  book  down,  determined  by  divine  grace 
to  become  a  child  of  God  ?  Or  will  you  still  de- 
lay and  die  a  child  of  Satan  ?  0  decide  !  O  pray 
to  become  what  you  will  wish  to  be  for  ever ! 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CONCLUDING  ADDRESSES — TO  YOUNG  WOMEN, — TO 
YOUNG  MEN, — AND  TO  READERS  GENERALLY. 

I.  You  have  been  shown  that  there  is  no  alter- 
native betv/een  heartfelt  piety  and  eternal  ruin ; 
what  is  the  effect  of  the  truths  presented  to  you? 
The  most  solemn  and  the  most  important  event 
in  human  existence*  viewed  as  embracing  both 
time  and  eternity,  is  the  committal  of  the  soul, 
with  the  surrender  of  the  heart,  to  the  Lord  Jesus. 


ADDRESS  TO  YOUNG  WOMEN.  231 

lj  your  soul  committed  and  your  heart  devoted 
to  him  ?  Then  the  lost  and  undone  pass  from 
death  and  misery,  and  Satan's  power  and  con- 
demnation to  hellish  horrors,  into  life,  and  light, 
and  liberty,  and  peace,  and  salvation.  Have  you 
thus  passed  from  death  to  life,  and  gained  every 
blessing  at  the  Saviour's  feet  ?  The  contrast  is 
great  indeed  between  what  the  Christian  was 
when  a  careless  sinner,  and  what  be  is  when  be- 
come a  humble  believer.  Sin  then  unpardoned 
is  now  forgiven.  Then  he  had  no  hope;  now 
every  hope  is  his.  Then  this  life  was  his  all ; 
now  it  is  a  comparative  nothing.  Death  was  a 
curse ;  but  now  it  is  a  blessing.  Then  he  was 
the  enemy  ;  now  is  the  child  of  God.  Then  Sa- 
tan's slave  ;  now  the  friend  of  Christ.  Then  the 
heir  of  hell ;  but  now  of  heaven.  Then  in  his 
prospects  all  was  darkness,  gloom,  and  death ; 
now  they  are  bright  with  life  and  immortality. 
All  these  blessings  are  enjoyed  through  an  inte- 
rest in  the  Lord  Jesus.  Are  all  these  blessings 
yours?  If  so,  how  memorable  is  the  day  when 
such  treasures  were  secured  !  If  not,  how  piti- 
able is  your  condition  while  destitute  of  them  all ! 

II.   TO    YOUNG   WOMEN 

1.  What  has  been  written  in  the  preceding 
pages,  has  been  addressed  indiscriminately  to 
irreligious  persons  of  either  sex  and  of  any  age ; 
but  there  are  some  classes  that  it  may  not  be  un- 
suitable more  expressly  to  address.  Let  the 
writer  turn  first  to  young  women. 

My  young  female  friend,  are  you  a  stranger  to 
true  piety?     How  sad  then  is  your  condition ! 


2^2  ADDRESS  TO  YOUNG  WOMEN. 

Keligion  is  the  brightest  ornament  among  the 
many  that  adorn  your  sex.  And  among  females 
religion  finds  the  greater  part  of  its  decided  vo- 
taries. Women  were  among  the  most  affectionate 
and  faithful  of  the  disciples  of  the  Lord.  They 
watched  beside  his  cross  when  his  own  apostles 
forsook  him  and  fled.  They  were  last  at  his 
cross,  and  first  at  his  sepulchre.  And  what  they 
were  to  the  Divine  Master,  they  have  since  been 
to  his  feeble  servants  labouring  in  his  work. 
The  piety  and  consistency  of  Christian  females 
has  been  a  chief  source  of  encouragement  and 
comfort  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel;  and  pro- 
bably of  the  truly  pious  two  thirds  are  women.1 
But  you,  my  young  friend,  want  that  chief  glory 
of  an  immortal  nature. 

Oh,  how  can  you  trifle  with  your  God,  with 
your  Judge,  and  with  your  deathless  soul !  Per- 
haps you  are  so  timorous  that  a  flash  of  lightning 
alarms  you.  You  would  be  frightened  by  meet- 
ing alone  an  ill-looking  man  upon  a  lonely  road, 
and  yet  you  can  trifle  with  the  terrors  of  God's 
wrath  and  the  horrors  of  Satan's  reign.  Alas ! 
if  you  persist  in  slighting  humble  piety  it  may 
soon  be  said  of  you,  when  dead  and  gone,  "  Here 
lies  one  who  loved  the  world,  but  it  has  left  her 
for  ever;  who  lost  her  soul  for  its  gaieties  and 
pleasures,  and  its  pleasures  are  for  ever  over. 
Unhappy  girl,  how  different  her  lot  from  theirs 
who  loved  and  followed  Christ  the  Lord  !" 

2.  How  many  are  thus  unhappy  !  Look  at  a 
young  woman  who  is  openly  irreligious.  She  is 
false ;    without  remorse  can  violate  the  law  of 

(1)  Professor  Dwight  states,  that  Jonathan  Edwards  remarked* 
that  in  the  American  churches  about  two  thirds  were  females. 


IRRELIGIOUS  YOUNG  WOMEN  DESCRIBED.    233 

truth.  She  is  perhaps  profane;  was  nursed  up 
in  sin  and  loves  it.  She  scorns  true  piety,  and 
laughs  at  its  restraints.  Wretched  girl!  little 
does  she  think  to  whom  she  belongs,  and  whither 
she  is  going  !  Her  Lord  is  Satan,  and  her  home 
is  hell. 

Behold  a  prayerless  girl !  like  the  brutes  in  the 
field  she  rises  and  lies  down,  careless  of  the  God 
that  gave  her  being,  and  before  whose  dreadful 
bar  she  must  shortly  stand.  She  seeks  no  bless- 
ings for  eternity,  and  she  has  none.  No  heaven 
is  hers ;  no  peaceful  rest  awaits  her.  She  is 
without  God,  and  without  Christ,  and  without 
hope. 

See  a  third !  her  idol  is  dress  and  display. 
She  thinks  much  of  adorning  the  body,  but  no- 
thing of  adorning  the  soul.  A  new  garment  fills 
her  with  delight,  and  puffs  her  up  with  pride; 
but  she  slights  the  robe  of  righteousness.  The 
body  that  must  soon  mingle  with  the  dust  is  all 
her  care.  The  soul  that  must  live  for  ever  is  ut- 
terly neglected.  Whose  is  she  ?  what  must  she 
shortly  be,  when  the  grave  is  her  home,  and  her 
only  suit  a  shroud  ?  Then  must  that  idolized 
body  be  a  loathsome  mass  of  corruption  and  de- 
cay, hidden  from  the  sight  of  men ;  and  that 
neglected  soul,  without  one  ornament  of  grace, 
must  be  for  ever  deformed,  and  hateful,  and 
hellish  amidst  the  poverty  and  gloom  of  perdi- 
tion. 

A  few  years  ago  some  particulars  were  related 
to  the  writer  respecting  a  young  woman  who  had 
died  just  before.  This  unhappy  girl  was  what 
thousands  are,  devoted  to  the  .world.  The 
love  of  dress  reigned  in  her  breast.  Dress  was 
x 


g?»4     IRRELIGIOUS  YOUNG  WOMEN  DESCRIBED. 

her  idol.  The  time  for  a  fair  was  approaching, 
and  she  had  a  new  garment  in  which  she  design- 
ed to  attend  its  scenes  of  dissipation.  Part  of 
several  preceding  sabbaths  had  been  employed 
in  preparing  some  of  her  apparel,  as  she  usually 
left  this  work  for  that  sacred  day.  On  Saturday 
evening  before  the  fair  she  was  not  quite  well ; 
the  next  morning  however  she  attended  to  some 
worldly  business.  In  the  evening  of  that  profa- 
ned sabbath  she  became  ill,  and  soon  sunk  into 
a  state  of  insensibility.  Thus  she  continued  till 
Friday,  the  day  of  her  anticipated  pleasure  ;  but 
on  that  day  about  three  o'clock  she  expired,  at 
the  very  time  when  she  would  probably  have  been 
in  the  fair,  had  not  disease  and  death  disappointed 
her  expectations.  Some  time  before  she  died  the 
hair  was  shaved  from  her  head ;  she  was  then 
sufficiently  sensible  to  say,  "Not  my  hair,  not  my 
hair,  I  am  tormented  in  my  soul !" 

Behold  another  !  She  feels  convictions  of  her 
sin  and  folly,  and  listens  to  pious  instructions ; 
but  she  will  not  give  her  youth  and  herself  to 
God.  She  goes  forward,  sinning  against  light 
and  knowledge,  till  she  gels  into  a  state  of  har- 
dened indifference.  Ah,  whose  is  she  ?  What 
are  her  prospects  ?  The  God  she  trifles  with  will 
soon  cease  to  pity  her.  The  Spirit  she  resists 
will  soon  cease  to  strive  with  her.  The  Saviour 
she  slights  will  soon  cease  to  invite  her.  The 
heaven  she  neglects  will  soon  be  shut  against 
her.     Then  what  will  this  poor  trifler  be  for  ever? 

View  one  young  woman  more.  She  is  very 
different  from  those  already  described.  In  dis- 
position amiable;  in  conduct  commendable. 
She  respects  religion,  and  esteems  its  friends; 


PIOUS  FEMALE  CHARACTERS  DESCRIBED.     235 

yet  she  is  not  its  possessor.  She  is  but  almost  a 
Christian.  Then  what  is  she?  still,  like  others, 
a  perishing1  creature.  What  are  her  prospects  ? 
Alas,  as  dark  as  theirs.  Soon,  unless  she  become 
a  Christian  indeed,  she  must  be  shut  out  from 
that  heaven  of  which  she  often  hears  ;  she  must 
be  separated  eternally  from  those  whose  piety 
she  respects  but  does  not  imitate.  Unhappy 
girl,  to  be  so  near  the  kingdom  and  yet  to  come 
short  at  last  ! 

A  pious  minister  relates  that  he  visited  a  fe- 
male on  her  dying  bed,  who  had  indulged  false 
hopes  of  heaven ;  and  listened  to  her  awful  re- 
grets for  time  past,  and  to  her  prayers  that  she 
might  not  die.  "I  cannot  die,  I  cannot  die!" 
she  exclaimed.  "My  bible  will  rise  up  in  judg- 
ment against  me.  I've  forgotten  God  and  served 
the  world,  and  now  he  is  taking  me  away  for  ever. 
Oh !  I  cannot  die."  Vain  exclamations,  she 
could  not  flee  from  death. 

My  young  friend,  what  are  you  ?  Is  either  ot 
these  representations  a  description  of  yourself? 
But  we  will  view  some  of  an  opposite  character. 

3.  Behold  then  a  young  woman  whose  heart  is 
intent  upon  winning  Christ,  and  obtaining  the 
blessings  of  religion.  She  is  humble  and  peni- 
tent; though  never  immoral,  yet  in  her  own  es- 
teem the  chief  of  sinners.  She  is  watchful  and 
prayerful  while  struggling  after  the  Saviour. 
Whose  is  she  ?  the  Lord's.  What  is  her  portion  ? 
blessedness ;  for  he  said,  "  Blessed  are  the  poor 
in  spirit;  for  their's  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
Blessed  are  they  that  mourn ;  for  they  shall  be 
comforted.    Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunge? 


236  ADDRESS  TO  YOUNG  WOMEN. 

and  thirst  after  righteousness  ;  for  they  shall  be 
filled."1 

Behold  another.  She  has  gone  further  in  the 
path  of  peace.  Not  only  has  she  come  out  from 
the  world,  and  given  up  its  vanities,  but  she  has 
avowed  herself  to  be  the  Lord's.  His  vows  are 
upon  her.  Her  treasures  are  above.  Her  home 
is  there;  her  heart  is  there.  She  is  learning  of 
her  Lord ;  growing  in  spirit  and  conduct  like 
him  ;  looking  for  him,  and  following  him  as  her 
guide  to  glory.  Happy  girl !  the  treasures  of 
empires  are  poverty  to  her  wealth ;  and  all  the 
science  of  philosophers  folly  to  her  wisdom.  Now 
she  is  "a  daughter  of  the  Lord  Almighty,"  and 
soon  will  be  his  favoured  child  in  his  immediate 
presence. 

How  wide  the  contrast  between  these  and  those 
first  described  1  wide  now,  but  how  much  wider 
will  it  be  when  the  first  shall  have  left  the  world 
they  love,  and  the  others  shall  have  reached  the 
heaven  they  seek  !  when  the  first  shall  have  ex- 
changed their  dress  and  their  youthful  bloom  for 
the  shroud,  the  grave,  and  hell ;  and  when  the 
last  shall  have  left  their  conflicts,  their  doubts 
and  fears  for  perfect  peace  and  endless  victory ; 
and  shall  have  exchanged  the  fading  bloom  of 
youth  on  earth  for  the  immortal  glories  and  un- 
fading beauties  of  heaven ! 

To  which  of  these  two  opposite  classes  do  you 
belong  ?  If  to  the  former,  by  all  that  is  dear  to 
you,  be  persuaded  to  listen  to  the  admonitions 
addressed  to  you  in  this  book  !  and  pray  for 
grace  to  become  now  what  you  will  else  eternally 
wish  in  vain  to  have  become,  the  humble  follower 

(1)  Matt.  v.  3,  1.  6. 


ADDRESS  TO  YOUNG  MEN.  237 

of  the  Saviour,  and  thus  a  "  daughter  of  the  Lord 
Almighty." 

III.   TO   YOUNG   MEN. 

Perhaps  the  writer  is  addressing  some  irre- 
ligious young  man.  If  so,  my  young  friend, 
harden  not  your  heart  against  the  admonitions, 
that  might,  if  regarded,  do  you  good  for  ever. 
Among  young  men  there  is  much  wickedness  ; 
much  daring  wickedness;  much  open  wicked- 
ness ;  and  a  greater  proportion  of  them  than  of 
the  other  sex  are  wicked  ;  and  they  harden  each 
other  in  wickedness.  Thus  multitudes  act.  Every 
sabbath  is  profaned.  Perhaps  its  morning  spent 
in  the  fields,  with  their  dogs  and  their  wicked 
companions;  and  its  evenings  at  the  tavern  or 
the  alehouse ;  where  they  are,  as  it  were,  uniting 
to  train  each  other  for  the  pit  of  perdition  ;  and 
they  too  fatally  succeed.  Were  this  their  object, 
they  could  not  accomplish  it  more  effectually 
than  they  do.  Look  at  the  course  of  many  young 
men.  Some  are  lewd  and  drunken ;  the  temp- 
ters of  the  other  sex,  the  disgrace  of  their  own, 
and  the  destroyers  of  themselves.  Is  their  state 
a  safe  or  happy  one  ?  Ah,  no  !  it  is  one  of  ac- 
cumulating guilt  and  constant  danger.  Many  die 
the  victims  of  youthful  lusts.  Others  meet  death 
in  some  drunken  fit,  and  are  suddenly  hurried 
from  the  company  of  the  alehouse  to  the  society 
of  devils.  So  common  is  this,  that  frequently, 
in  a  single  week,  the  public  prints  record  several 
instances  of  persons  thus  in  the  midst  of  their 
sins  snatched  into  eternity.  Lately  an  account 
appeared  of  two  individuals  riding  home  intoxi- 
x3 


238      PROFLIGATE  YOUNG  MEN  DESCRIBED. 

cated.  One  fell  from  his  horse  and  was  killed  on 
the  spot;  the  other  fell  on  him,  and  was  found 
lying  asleep  by  his  dead  companion,  but  so  in- 
jured as  to  leave  little  hope  of  his  recovery.  In 
the  same  week  another  public  print  mentioned, 
that  a  waggoner  driving  down  a  hill  in  the  dark, 
heard  a  noise,  and  thought  one  of  his  wheels  was 
cracked  ;  but  looking  for  the  cause,  he  found  that 
a  wheel  had  gone  over  a  drunkard's  head,  who 
was  lying  on  the  road,  had  smashed  his  skull  to 
pieces,  and  left  his  corpse  a  horrid  monument  of 
the  effects  of  drunkenness. 

From  viewing  such  characters  turn  to  another. 
Behold  the  affected  infidel.  Though  he  knows 
little  or  nothing,  and  has  perhaps  never  read  the 
bible  in  his  life,  he  is  too  wise  in  his  own  conceit 
to  listen  to  its  sacred  truths,  and  dares  to  despise 
that  book  which  Milton,  and  Newton,  and  Locke, 
and  Washington,  and  the  greatest  and  wisest  of 
men  have  reverenced  as  divine.  He  scorns  in- 
struction. But  what  is  his  condition?  is  it  one 
of  peace  and  safety  ?  Ah,  no.  God  will  bring 
him  into  judgment.1  He  cannot  live  always  ; 
nor  always  sit  in  the  scorner's  chair.  He  cannot 
always  jest  at  religion.  He  may  laugh  now  at 
its  solemn  truths;  but  laughter  will  not  drive 
death  and  hell  away.  What  is  his  peace  and 
support  ?  let  those  who  have  been  like  him  de- 
clare. A  devoted  Christian,2  who  when  a  young 
man  was  an  infidel,  remarks,  "  I  was  a  professed 
infidel,  but  then  I  liked  to  be  an  infidel  in  com- 
pany rather  than  alone.  /  ivas  wretched  when  by 
myself." 

A  visitor  to  one  who  had  scorned  the  bible 

(1)  Eecles.  xi.  9.  (ij  Cecil. 


ACCOUNT  OF  A  DYING  INFIDEL.  239 

stales,  I  found  him  in  the  full  possession  of  his 
mental  faculties,  but  much  agitated  and  alarmed 
by  a  sense  of  his  great  sinfulness  and  approach- 
ing misery.     About  six  months  before  the  time  at 
which  I  saw  him,  he  had  been  deprived  of  his 
wife  by  death.     To  suppress  the  sorrow  occa- 
sioned by  this  loss,  he  went  frequently  to  a  pub- 
lic-house ;    there  he    found    companions  whose 
mirth  caused  him  to  forget  for  a  moment  his 
troubles.     At  first  he  was  surprised  and  shocked 
at  their  profaneness,  but  he  soon  proved  that  'evil 
communications  corrupt  good  manners.'     These 
men  were  infidels ;  and  it  was  not  long  before 
they   persuaded  their  new  associate  to   imitate 
their  example,  in  abandoning  the  profession,  and 
casting  off  the  restraints  of  religion.    On  Sunday 
mornings  they  met  to  encourage  each  other  in  all 
manner  of  wickedness ;  and  on  one  of  these  oc- 
casions, according  to  previous  agreement,  they 
together  committed  their  Bibles  to  the  flames, 
and  vowed  never  again  to  enter  a  place  of  reli- 
gions worship.     *  All  this/  said  the  wretched  man, 
did  well  enough  while  I  was  in  health,  and  could 
'  keep  off  the  thoughts  of  death.*     Now,  however, 
he  was  stretched  on  a  bed  of  sickness,  and  con- 
scious of  his  near  approach  to  eternity  ;  in  this 
state,  forced  to  reflection,  his  guilt  and  danger 
excited  the  utmost  horror  and  alarm  :  despair  had 
taken  full  possession  of  his  mind.  When  I  spoke 
to  him  of  the  mercy  and  forgiveness  which  the 
most  heinous  offenders  are  encouraged  to  seek 
through  the  mediation  of  a  Redeemer-  he  hastily 
exclaimed,   'What's  the  use   of  talking   *o  me 
about  mercy  ?'     When  entreated  aQiin  and  agsiji 
to  '  behold  ths  Lamb  of  God,  which  takeih  awav 


240  A  DYING  INFIDEL. 

the  sin  of  the  world,'  he  said,  '  I  tell  you,  it's  of 
no  use  now  ;  'tis  too  late — 'tis  too  late.'  In  re- 
ply to  my  exhortation  to  pray,  he  said,  '  Oh  !  I 
could  pray  once,  but  now  I  can't  pray  ;'  and  after 
a  pause,  'I  will  not  pray.'  These  expressions 
were  subsequently  several  times  repeated,  '  J  can- 
not pray,  I  will  not  pray.'  Two  men  having  en- 
tered the  room,  whoml  understood  to  have  been 
leaders  in  the  guilty  company  by  whom  this  poor 
man  had  been  deluded,  he  hastily  turned  his  face 
from  them  with  obvious  disgust  and  terror  ;  and 
after  they  had  addressed  to  him  some  blustering 
expressions,  by  which  they  hoped  to  rally  his  spi- 
rits, he  raised  himself  on  his  bed,  lifted  up  his 
hands,  and  in  the  most  deliberate  and  solemn 
manner  called  on  God  Almighty  to  blast  those 
wretches  to  all  eternity!  They  almost  immedi- 
ately left  the  apartment,  uttering  a  profusion  of 
oaths.  Some  time  afterwards  three  others  of  the 
wretched  men  entered,  and  occasioned  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  imprecations,  which  it  was  impossible 
for  any  to  hear  without  shuddering. 

"  After  I  had  been  with  him  about  two  hours, 
during  which  time  he  frequently  repeated  such 
expressions  as  have  been  stated,  he  became  quite 
indifferent  to  what  was  said  to  him,  rolling  about 
on  his  bed,  and  now  and  then  ejaculating,  *  My 
Bible!  Oh!  the  Bible /'  His  eyes  were  for  se- 
veral minutes  fixed  on  me,  but  he  seemed  not  to 
hear  the  questions  and  entreaties  which  I  conti- 
nued to  address  to  him.  He  then  concealed  his 
face  by  turning  it  to  the  pillow  ;  and  after  having 
remained  in  this  position  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  his  whole  frame  was  violently  convulsed ; 
bp  groaned,  and  then  again  was  still ;  and  whilst 


IRRELIGIOUS  YOUNG  MEN  DESCRIBED.        241 

I  was  speaking  to  the  by-standers,  he  expired. 
*  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God.'" 

2.  See  a  young  man  that  ranks  not  thus  openly 
with  the  enemies  of  holiness.  He  spends  his 
sabbaths  in  worldly  company  ;  on  the  newspaper, 
or  mere  worldly  science.  He  neglects  all  piety. 
He  lives  a  prayerless  life.  In  vain  for  him  opens 
the  house  of  worship,  he  enters  not  that  sacred 
place;  or  if  occasionally  there,  goes  in  only  life- 
less form.  In  vain  for  him  the  Christian  minister 
proclaims  the  tidings  of  heavenly  love.  He  treats 
those  wonders  on  which  angels  gaze  astonished, 
with  utter  indifference.  Bat  what  is  his  condi- 
tion ?  Is  he  safe  and  blest  ?  Ah,  no  !  Ruin, 
only  ruin  lies  before  him.  He  is  exposed  to  utter 
danger,  to  eternal  destruction.  Yet  he  is  vigo- 
rous, and  fears  no  ill.  True  ;  but  health  may  soon 
leave  him.  It  has  left  millions  once  as  fearless 
and  vigorous  ;  and  they,  guilty  and  ruined,  have 
sunk  into  the  grave.  Insensibility  lessens  not 
his  guilt  nor  his  danger. 

Behold  a  young  man  different  from  all  these. 
He  respects  religion,  treats  its  truths  with  reve- 
rence, its  friends  with  kindness.  No  open  profa- 
nity or  vice  marks  his  conduct.  As  far  as  the 
outward  observance  of  many  divine  precepts  is 
concerned,  he  can  say  with  a  young  man  of  old, 
"All  these  have  I  observed  from  my  youth."  He 
is  regular  at  the  house  of  God  ;  and  is  generally 
esteemed  and  beloved.  Yet  his  heart  is  not 
given  to  Christ.  He  has  not  surrendered  himself 
and  his  all  to  the  Saviour.  What  is  his  condition  ? 
Alas  !  with  all  that  is  so  promising,  he  is  still  pe- 
rishing.   Though  he  joins  not  the  scoffer  and  the 


242  PIOUS  YOUNG  MEN  DESCRIBED. 

drunkard,  still  while  he  receives  not  the  Saviour 
he  belongs  to  the  same  wretched  family  as  they. 
Unhappy  youth  !  with  so  much  that  is  commen- 
dable and  promising1,  yet  to  want  the  one  thing1 
needful.  Unhappy  youth !  that  meets  with 
Christians,  yet  has  himself  no  part  in  Christ; 
that  shuns  the  place  where  scorners  and  blas- 
phemers meet,  yet  has  no  more  interest  in  the 
Saviour  than  they,  and  is  hastening  to  the  same 
dark  dwelling  of  despair. 

3.  But  see  a  young  man  different  from  all 
these.  He  is  the  humble  and  devoted  disciple  of 
the  blessed  Jesus.  If  once  a  profligate  and  a 
sabbath-breaker,  he  now  hates  all  the  paths  of  sin, 
and  loves  the  sabbath  he  profaned.  If  brought 
up  strictly,  he  now  feels  much  more  than  the 
mere  influence  of  habit  or  education  ;  he  has  un- 
feignedly  yielded  up  himself  to  God.  Religion 
is  the  element  in  which  he  lives.  Prayer  his 
pleasure;  the  bible  his  guide;  the  friends  of 
Christ  his  beloved  associates.  Youth  cannot  be- 
guile him  with  its  delusions.  Whatever  pros- 
pects of  opening  life  are  before  him,  he  looks  to 
brighter  prospects  and  to  fairer  scenes  beyond  the 
limits  of  earth  and  time.  God  is  his  God.  The 
Saviour  is  his  all  ;  and  heavenly  mansions  his 
expected  home.  Happy  young  man!  He  pos- 
sesses the  good  part  that  shall  not  be  taken  away 
from  him. 

Which  of  these  very  different  characters  do  you 
resemble  ?  If  the  latter,  give  God  the  praise.  If 
any  of  the  former,  ruin  is  before  you.  O,  flee 
from  the  paths  of  youthful  sin  and  folly  !  or  you 
will  find,  too  late,  that  the  way  of  transgressors  is 
hard. 


243 

CONCLUSION". 

IV.  And  now,  reader,  before  this  address  closes, 
let  the  question  once  more  be  pressed  on  your  at 
tention,  What  are  you  ?  Are  you  yet  undecided  ? 
If  so,  what  have  you  to  object  to  embracing  reli- 
gion ?  Would  you  lose  by  turning  to  God  ? 
Would  it  render  you  unhappy  ?  Would  you 
ever  repent  of  doing  so  ?  Can  you  find  another 
Saviour  or  happiness  elsewhere?  If  not  why 
continue  undecided  ?  Would  not  committing 
your  all  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  make  this  the  best  and 
happiest  year  of  your  life  ?  Would  it  not  pre- 
pare you  for  all  events,  to  live  on  earth,  or  to  die 
and  live  in  heaven?  Why  then  continue  but 
almost  a  Christian  ?  Why  thus  be  ruined  by 
what  ruins  multitudes  ?  Probably  faxv  expect  to 
perish  for  ever.  Some  delusion  props  up  their 
hopes,  till  death  and  eternity  sweep  all  delusive 
hopes  away.  Some  speak  of  minding  religion, 
but  not,  they  allow,  as  they  should  do;  when  the 
fact  is,  they  have  never  from  the  heart  embraced 
the  gospel.  Others  hope  to  become  pious  here- 
after. Thus  some  are  undone  by  one  delusion, 
and  others  by  another.  But  will  you  allow  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin  thus  to  ruin  you  ?  The  Lord 
says,  u  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate ;" 
and  will  you  not  strive  when  eternal  life  is  de- 
pending? 

2.  Reader,  before  you  are  left  to  God  and  your 
own  conscience,  bear  with  one  more  warning 
against  trifling  with  religion,  for  trifling  would 
undo  you  eternally.  Only  make  light1  of  Christ, 
and  you  will  resemble  a  criminal  whose  state  is 

(1)  Matt.  xxii.  5. 


244  CONCLUDING  ADDRESS. 

hopeless  and  who  is  left  for  execution.  Only 
make  light  of  Christ,  and  your  life  will  be  sin, 
your  deiith  despair,  and  your  home  hell.  You 
are  already  a  condemned  sinner,  make  light  of 
him  and  you  seal  that  condemnation.  No  reme- 
dy will  then  long  be  presented  to  you,  only  make 
light  of  salvation,  and  all  hope  will  be  soon  over. 
Nothing  worse  is  needed  to  ruin  you  for  ever. 
To  be  shut  out  of  heaven,  only  trifle  with  the  Sa- 
viour's claims,  and  the  deed  is  done.  Only  stop 
with  being  but  almost  a  Christian,  and  you  de- 
stroy your  soul  as  effectually  as  you  could  do  by 
infidelity  itself.  To  sink  to  hell  you  need  not  be 
a  drunkard,  or  a  swearer,  or  a  liar,  or  lewd,  or 
dishonest,  only  make  light  of  Christ,  and  this 
will  sink  you  there.  To  live  and  die  laden  with 
iniquity,  to  murder  your  own  soul  with  the  un- 
dying death,  you  need  not  keep  adding  open  sin 
to  sin,  and  transgression  to  transgression,  only 
make  light  of  Christ,  only  neglect  decided  reli- 
gion, and  the  deed  of  destruction  is  completed, 
and  the  soul  is  undone. 

Dying  child  of  man  !  t  what  will  you  be  ?  whose 
will  you  be  for  ever  ?  The  most  important  choice 
you  can  ever  make  is  now  before  you.  It  is  not, 
who  shall  be  your  companions,  or  what  your  em- 
ployment for  a  few  short  years ;  but  who  shall  be 
your  companions,  and  what  your  err  ployment  to 
eternity.  Will  you  have  a  part  in  ')e  'lessings 
of  salvation  ?  or  will  you  have  no  par;  nor  lot  in 
the  matter  ?  Will  you  have  the  supports  of  a  Sa- 
viour's love?  or  will  you  neglect  his  grace  and 
have  them  not  ?  Will  you  make  the  choice  which 
under  divine  grace  millions  have  made  and  none 
ever  lamented?  or  will  you  not? 


CONCLUDING  ADDRESS.  845 

4.  What  will  you  be?  Decide  by  God's  help 
now.  Your  last  day  is  coming1;  your  body  will 
soon  be  in  the  grave,  and  your  soul  gone  to  meet 
its  God.  If  these  events  were  never  to  come 
to  pass,  you  might  trifle;  but  they  will  ar- 
rive, and  then  you  will  see  religion  as  with  other 
eyes,  and  feel  its  importance  as  with  another 
heart.  Will  you  become  a  child  of  God  instead 
of  continuing  a  guilty  prodigal  ?  and  will  you 
have  an  interest  in  his  promises  and  favour? 
Will  you  become  a  partaker  of  his  grace  ?  Shall 
his  everlasting  love  bless  you  ?  O  trifle  not 
longer  with  such  blessings !  Will  you  come  to 
Christ  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  heaven  ?  or  follow 
the  world  and  wail  for  ever  in  hell  ?  One  you 
must  do,  which  shall  it  be? 

O  yield  yourself  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thus  become  as  blest  as  they  that  have 
already  reached  his  heavenly  kingdom ;  thus 
learn  to  live  as  safely,  and  to  die  as  peacefully. 
Thus  follow  him  who  will  teach  you  to  sing  the 
song  of  victory,  and  soon  unite  you  to  their  hap- 
py bands.  O  come  !  O  yield  !  and  when  death 
comes  it  will  be  gain ;  and  when  you  are  in  the 
grave,  your  spirit  will  be  with  the  Lord ;  and 
when  you  are  forgotten  in  the  dust,  you  will  still 
be  with  him,  and  with  him  for  ever. 

What  will  you  do?  "We  are  ambassadors  for 
Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us: 
we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled 
to  God."1  God's  message  is  delivered  to  you ; 
he  waits  your  answer  and  the  Saviour  waits. 
The  question  is,  Will  you  be  indeed  Christ's 
disciple  ?     What  is  your  answer  ?  the  answer  of 

(1)  2  Cor.  v.  20. 


246  CONCLUDING  ADDRESS. 

your  heart?  "Yes,  Lord,  T  will!"  Blessed  be 
God  if  this  is  your  reply.  You  will  have  to  bless 
him  through  eternal  ages  for  the  grace  that 
inspires  this  answer,  "Yes;" — then  Satan  has  lost 
his  prey  and  hell  its  victim !  "  Yes,  Lord,  I  will 
follow  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest!"  Praise 
to  the  Lord  !  The  Saviour  is  thine,  and  there  is 
joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over 
thee,  a  repenting  sinner. 

Is  it  so,  reader  ?  is  it  so  ?  Is  "Yes,"  your  an- 
swer ?  Perhaps  you  say,  "  I  long  to  be  his,  but  I  fear 
he  will  not  welcome  such  a  sinner."  Away  with 
such  unbelieving  fears;  if  you  are  willing,  he  is  more 
willing :  it  was  his  grace  that  made  you  willing, 
and  he  says,  "  Come  unto  me,  ail  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest  ;*  him 
that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out."" 

But  is,  "Yes,  I  will,  in  the  Lord's  strength,  be 
Christ's  disciple,"  the  heartfelt  answer  of  all  the 
readers  of  this  book?  It  is  to  be  feared  not. 
Perhaps  it  is  not  yours.  What  then,  reader,  is 
your  answer  ?  There  is  no  medium  between 
Yes  and  No ;  between  decided  religion  and  eternal 
life,  and  irreligion  and  everlasting  ruin.  You 
are  not  willing  to  be  quite  the  Lord's.  Then 
do  not  deceive  yourself;  but  speak  plainly  what 
the  Lord  regards  as  plainly  done.  At  once  say, 
"No,  I  will  not  be  the  Lord's."  Is  this  your 
answer  either  by  words  or  by  conduct?  Then 
for  you  the  Son  of  God  will  have  no  blessings. 
"No:"  then  Satan  exults,  you  are  his  victim  still. 
"No :"  then  shall  you  deplore  eternally  your  fatal 
resolution.  "No!"  Abide  by  this  answer  and 
your  doom  is  settled,  and  your  damnation  sealed. 

(1)  Matt.  xi.  27.  (2)  John,  vi.  37. 


